Problems with buying properties not fully permitted

[Alfred Costanzo]

Hi Everyone, I’ve been searching for my first house to house hack in South Florida. Not sure if it’s just the market right now but it seems a lot of properties are not fully permitted. As in a Florida room converted to in law. Extra bathrooms and bedrooms not permitted. Not sure what consequences there may be if you buy a property not permitted. Is this something not to worry about or something to take into careful consideration?

I’ve been seeing this a lot with houses that have mother in laws on them. Which would be an ideal property to house hack.

[Tchaka Owen]

@Alfred Costanzo - that's typical South Florida, don't be surprised. An extreme case is Hialeah, which my real estate license instructor referred to as "one large code violation". Two things to keep in mind:

1. Some cities grandfather unpermitted work that was done years ago. If you find a home you really like, do your due-diligence on that.

2. Sometimes it's as simple as pulling a permit. One of my best flips was in Wilton Manors in late 2012. We ended up pulling 6 permits and one or two were for work done prior. We went to the city, spoke with someone and they said to pull permits and they'd inspect. As long as it was done properly, we'd be fine. Spent about $100 and got the approvals.

Point being, don't be afraid..........especially if you're going to invest in S. Florida.