I’ve been selling real estate full time since 2004, and the majority of my sales have been in San Rafael, which is where I live. I have been the top listing agent in my Coldwell Banker San Rafael office since I joined in 2018, so I am well qualified to give advice on selling real estate in San Rafael. When it comes to selling real estate in San Rafael, make sure your permit ducks are in a row or you will be sorry.
Are you in the City or County of San Rafael? It makes a huge difference because of the ($350) City Resale Inspection. If you are in the County and you’ve done non permitted work, most of the time you can just disclose that information to buyers and it won’t be an issue. I’ve only had one transaction where buyers in the County jurisdiction were adamant that we get a permit. It was for a water heater replacement, which was no big deal. So, if you are in places like Marinwood, Lucas Valley and Santa Venetia, you are most likely okay just disclosing non-permitted work, depending on your buyer and the advice they receive from their agent.
However, in the past 20 years or so, if you’ve done work to your property in the City and not gotten a permit, when you go to sell you will be either (a) dealing with the City to get permits or (b) passing those permit issues onto your buyers. Passing permit issues along to buyers is one of the best ways I know to bring down the value of your home. Keep in mind, you can get permits for past, retroactive work without a penalty if you do so before the City does their resale inspection. If you wait until the inspector has come through and they have called out a permit issue, someone will need to pay for the permit fee, plus three times that amount as a penalty. As an example, before going on the market I recently got water heater permits for two of the homes I sold in Terra Linda. The permit cost has recently gone up from $125 to $168.75. Previously getting a water heater permit that was called out in the resale inspection cost $500. Now it’s $675!
Here are some things that I routinely get permits for prior to having a resale inspection. Water heaters, furnaces, air conditioners and gas fireplace inserts are at the top of the list. The only issue with water heaters is that sometimes were installed without being up to current code, even if they were done by licensed plumbers. That means bringing them up to code before the inspector comes out to finalize the permit. It's not difficult getting water heaters up to code, it's just a bit of a hassle. Knock on wood, I’ve had good experiences with furnace, AC permits and gas inserts.
Kitchen and bathroom remodel permits are more challenging because you need to get drawings of the spaces. I’d previously been working with a retired architect who drew many kitchens and bathrooms for me. He liked taking jobs, but is no longer able. I’ve also worked with contractors to get drawings, but they mostly just do it for their work. Fortunately, I recently found a very reasonable and talented graphic designer who will make drawings for retroactive permits.
Once you have a drawing you can submit it and order and pay for the permit online. Drawing review typically takes anywhere for 1-3 weeks. If you need to get permits that require drawings it’s important to get on the process early. That way you don’t hold up the escrow as the City takes it’s time getting to your drawings, which can sometimes happen. Sometimes the City will make notes on your drawing that require retrofitting. At that point it’s either contact the previous contractor, which is often not possible, or hire a new one to do the work.
Once the work is done you can call for a final inspection and get the permit signed off. It’s so much easier to sell a property that has no permit issues vs. one that does. If you are going to sell your house within the jurisdiction of the City of San Rafael, do yourself a favor and get on the permit situation right away. To look up the permit history of your house click here.
*** Thank you for reading my blog! If you or any of your friends and family ever have any real estate questions, please feel free to contact me. I’m always happy to help! Email: AndyFalk2112@yahoo.com or Cell (415-250-8025)