Have you done some work on your home without getting permits in the last 20 years, and that work technically required permits? Maybe you are considering selling your home. If own a home in the City of San Rafael jurisdiction, once they are called out by the city resale inspector either you or the buyer is going to need to get permits for that work. There will be fines and red tape. Your transaction may be delayed as the permits are finalized or passed on to the buyer. When deciding about getting permits for the work, keep in mind that buyers don’t like to inherit non-permitted work.
A City Resale Inspection with a number of outstanding permit issues, or even just one more challenging permit, can be the difference between one or more buyers presenting offers or staying on the sidelines. As a general rule, all it takes is two motivated buyers to get in a bidding war to drive the price up, so you want to remove obstacles to buyers making offers. Some permits are more of a nuisance and no brainers to get before going on the market. For instance, if your water heater was installed up to code and no retrofitting is required, it’s only $168 to get a permit before the city inspector comes through. If you leave it to the city inspector to call out the water heater, the cost goes up four times, to $672. The same is true for a furnace and AC, and these permits are easy enough to apply for online.
I work with permit issues on almost every house I sell. My opinion is that the City is just looking for money, and most permits are not that big of a deal. Rare is the case that I pass a permit issue off to a buyer. One good reason to pass on getting a permit before going on the market is if the house needs a lot of work and the buyers are going to be getting other permits anyway. A good example would be a house with a non-permitted deck. A deck permit will require drawings and potentially costly retrofitting. If the buyers are going to do a bunch of remodeling anyway, you might as well let them take on the deck too.
There is another option when it comes to permits. Maybe that deck is more trouble than it’s worth, and you decide to take it out before or after the city comes through. You’ll need a demolition permit if they call it out, but those are pretty cheap and there is no fine. Did you know you need a permit for a hot tub? If you’ve got a non-permitted hot tub and it’s not operational, you might was well take it out before the City comes and calls it out. That is unless you want to get a whole new hot tub. Did you get a full or partial garage conversion without a permit? Unless you’ve got two covered parking spots, you won’t be able to get a permit. I’ve had to remove several very nice garage conversions over the years because they were not possible to permit.
There is a lot to consider when you are making improvements to your home. The permit calculus is part of it. If you get a permit for a kitchen or bathroom remodel your property tax will go up in accordance with the value of the work. If you are going to be in the house for a few decades, when you go to sell the house, you won't need a permit. In fact, who knows if San Rafael will even have a resale inspection down the road, and what that inspection will look like? The City of Novato resale process has changed and they no longer come out to homes to inspect, they just provide a report on the existing permits. The same is true in Corte Madera.
Got permit questions? Feel free to reach out to me.
*** 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 at andyfalk2112@yahoo.com or 415-250-8025. I’m always happy to help!