DIYbanter - View Single Post - Any risk in buying a house with finished basement without permit -Please advise

On 12 Nov 2003 11:14:15 -0800, (Basha) wrote:

Hi,

I am in house hunting for the last one month and found a suitable
house recently. I am thinking of buying it. When I went to to get the
survey map from the city governmemnt, I learned that they don't have a
record of basement finished. The previous owner who actually completed
the basement didn't get the permit for it. The basement has 2
bedrooms, one bathroom and a large family room with fire place. Is
there any risk involved in buying this house?

You comments greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Basha

I believe there is. Neither you nor a home inspector can see through
the walls. If the electrical wasn't permitted and inspected, how can
you know whether or not it was properly done. Same thing with
plumbing and gas. As to the bedroom, is there legal egress, and if
there is and an enlarged window was installed, was it done correctly
or was the structure compromised?.

I'm a contractor and I've seen enough unpermitted work (usually done
by homeowners) that is poor practice and even unsafe to scare me off.

My wife and I are currently househunting ... when I come across one
with an unpermitted finished basement, I value the basement
development at minus three thousand dollars (the cost of tearing it
out).

It depends on the area. You'll have to ask (probably the local
building/inspection office) what's necessary, and what it would take to
remedy the situation.

When my FIL went to the city (small town in Texas) and asked what he needed
to do to put an addition on his house, the guy gave him a funny look and
said, "Go build it!" In other words, no permits or inspections were require
d(only for septic, which he wasn't doing).