Certificate of Occupancy Confusion in PA

[Victor Lee]

Hi All - Hope you are all looking forward to this long weekend. To use top down approach, here is my question followed by details ->

Should I be buying properties if the seller is not providing a CO and saying buyer is responsible for a CO? Would love to hear people's experiences (opinions welcome too) :)

Details

- I am starting to buy in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton area or Lehigh Valley

- Some properties advertise "comes with clear CO" like it is a benefit but others casually say buyer responsible for CO so thoroughly confused

- Heard some bad stories of buyer getting hit when bought w/o a CO but also that is not a big deal to have a clear CO at buying 

- Planning on buying single family + multi-families 

Not sure if I am overly safe and missing out on opportunities here.

[Steven Goldman]

If the seller is providing a clear Certificate of Occupancy then the property is turn key and not in need of major rehab. If the seller is not providing a certificate of occupancy, you may be able to close, but you will have to bring the property to code before renting it. Any major rehab. will not be warranted with a certificate of occupancy. If you are Brrrring, then you will by necessity have to buy properties that can not be occupied at the time of closing. I hope this helps you. You should make sure you or your contractor are familiar with the city, town or townships building codes to insure you do not underestimate the rehab. I wish you good luck!