MICHELLE H. wrote:
....
that when this "realty property rental company" flipped the house, they
added brand new carpeting to the 2nd floor, and added built-in closet
storage space on the 2nd floor, and converted the attic to a "finished
area" that can be used as a 3rd bedroom, office space, kids play area,
etc. etc.

So maybe the company that flipped it, added the spiral staircase, I
don't know??

More than likely. If you (or your friend) really, really cares about
the "who", undoubtedly you could find building permits on file that
should give enough scope to tell. (Altho I don't see that that question
really has any bearing; either the friend likes the house enough to make
an offer or not given the way it now is or discounting it enough to fix
it as would want).
....

There ARE 3 windows on the 2nd floor though.

There is 1 full-size window at the top of the regular wooden staircase,
which leads to the 2nd floor. The window faces the backyard from the 2nd
floor. The regular wooden staircase is located at the BACK of the house
on the other side of the kitchen.

And there are 2 full-size windows right next to each other at the FRONT
of the home, facing the street, up on the now finished 2nd floor.


So with a house that is only 936 sq. feet of living area, why would they
put a metal spiral staircase like 30 feet from the original back wooden
staircase!? And why put it right in the middle of a TINY living room!?

OK, so my guess on there not being windows was off base. Still, it's
possible they either weren't sufficiently large to meet the egress
requirements of Code (and I don't recall offhand what the actual
dimensions are as well as what it says about location and height or roof
access, etc., for second floor) nor, of course, do we have any idea what
additional local requirements there might be over national code that may
have something to do with it.

Or, otoh, perhaps they simply had a mad designer who thought putting it
in there would be the perfect touch as some others have suggested...
Surely there are even more ridiculous renovations made than this one.

To amplify on previous remarks, if the friend likes the house well
enough except for that, she could ask local building enforcement what is
the actual requirements for fire egress and whether the windows are
adequate w/o the stairway to confirm whether it is, or is not, a Code
addition(+). Knowing that one would have sufficient information on
whether a remodel to remove it is allowable or not and then make the
offer based on what an estimate for the modifications would cost. Or,
of course, simply accept it as is.

(+) Or, if don't need the upstairs as sleeping space, perhaps even if
the stair was added for that reason by not using it as sleeping area it
might be possible to get occupancy permit w/o it allowing that option
for removing it as well as if the windows are adequate for the Code
requirement. Again, this would depend on local building code/inspection
and one would need to check thoroughly and make any offers contingent on
desired conditions being able to be met so don't have any gotcha's crop up.

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