FAQ Why Phoenix Metro Homes Sellers Need Building Permits

 

FAQ Why Phoenix Metro Homes Sellers Need Building Permits. Home owners should absolutely contact their city  building office to find out if a  building permit is required for any remodeling, additions or projects BEFORE you begin.  Why? Because at some point you may want to sell your home and you will most likely be asked by the listing agent and buyers if a building permit was pulled. Plus if there is a loan on the property the lender will require the home to have proper building permits. Experienced Listing Agents are aware that this issue can and will pop up from time to time. The time to ask if projects or additions were permitted is BEFORE a seller lists a home or a buyer makes an offer on a home.

 

So what happens if I don't have a building permit?  Well, in short, it could either go well or be a disaster.    If you apply for a building permit 'after the fact' the city or county will want drawings made by a licensed contractor and they will require a physical inspection of your home by the city or county inspector. All may be just fine but if it's not, the inspector will require you to make changes OR perhaps even tear down the addition. Nobody wants the latter scenario!

 

 

View Phoenix Metro Homes For Sale

 

 

Here's my Most Recent Story of a seller that failed to get a city permit.  Our out of state home buyers fell in love with a home their very first day of viewing homes. While we were viewing the home I noticed there was no covered patio facing the pool.  That seemed very odd to me as most Phoenix Metro homes, in fact almost all homes will have a covered patio because of our intense summer heat. I then thought...

 

I wonder if the breakfast nook area used to be the covered patio?

 

And sure enough after I contacted the listing agent he said, well yes it used to be the covered patio. I then asked if the seller had a  building permit for the patio conversion.  He had no idea of whether it was permitted or not.  Experienced listing agents know to ask these questions BEFORE homes go on the market.  If asked, the Sellers will have the opportunity to take appropriate steps  and get the project permitted BEFORE the home was listed to avoid any pitfalls.  And sometimes sellers aren't sure about whether a building project was was or wasn't permitted for various reasons.  And that's when an experienced real estate broker comes into play, it's their job to find out if permits were obtained and if not, how to handle it appropriately.

 

FAQ Why Phoenix Metro Homes Sellers Need Building Permits

 

In this example, during the Home Inspection Period I recommended  that the buyers request that the seller deliver a  building permit from the city BEFORE close of escrow along with appropriate drawings from contractor.  Why would they do this during inspection period? Because if the seller refused to deliver an official building permit then the buyers had the option of  walking away from their offer and find another suitable home that didn't have potential issues. Keep in mind, at some point in the future these buyers might want to sell this home and they'll be asked if a building permit was obtained.

 

The home buyers did receive a proper building permit from the city and they love their new Arizona home! But I might add the process was very stressful  for them and there were times when we weren't sure if we'd get a permit or not.   The sellers dragged their feet and didn't act on getting a permit until late in the game - which put a lot of stress on the sellers and buyers.  The whole mess could have been avoided IF ONLY -  you know what's coming - the seller had gotten the building permit BEFORE they even started building the project or gotten a building permit BEFORE the home was on the market. In this story the seller didn't know if there was a building permit and the listing agent didn't ask the seller if there was a permit.  Lesson learned.

 

View Phoenix Metro Homes For Sale

 

FAQ Why Phoenix Metro Homes Sellers Need Building Permits

 

Orginally Published at Phoenix Property Shoppe

Anna "Banana" Kruchten Designated Broker & Owner CRB, CRS, GRI, CNE, SFR, CDPE, WLS Phoenix Homes For Sale   Connect with me also on these sites!

 

                   Your Referrals & Testimonials Are Greatly Appreciated!