Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Should I Get Permits?

You would be hard pressed to find a home in Los Angeles, or anywhere for that matter, where the homeowners did additions/alterations to their home with the proper permits from the city.

You're thinking of doing some minor alterations to your home, so the question is should you pull a permit for the work with the city or not? After all, you think it's more costly and time consuming to get them.

In the event you should want to sell the home down the road, unpermitted alterations could pose a problem. Not only could it make the potential buyer leary but it could be a reason that they negotiate the price lower.

You think maybe it's not a big deal or it was just a little alteration. When you fill out your disclosures that are given to the buyer after acceptance you'll have to disclose all of the work you did on the home with or without the proper permits.

So what type of work/alterations require permits?

Generally speaking construction, installation and replacement of the following projects: deck, hot tub, pool, basement finish, room addition, exterior siding and stucco, porch, sun room, patio or deck enclosure and roof covering, gazebo, shed of more than 120 square feet, garage, conversion of a garage to a room, electrical work, lawn sprinkling system back flow prevention device, water heater, boiler, furnace, a.c. system, fireplace, fireplace conversion to gas, wood stove, roofing, retaining wall 4 feet high or greater. 

For more specific information please be sure to check with your Regional Building Department.

Please don't hesitate to contact me for any of your real estate needs!

Best,
Amanda Contreras
Real Estate Consultant
e. thecontrerasgroup@gmail.com
w. http://www.thecontrerasgroup.com/

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