Flipping Unpermitted Work San Antonio TX

[Eli S.]

Hoping someone has had some experience with this...

I just bought a house that I am going to flip. Property is in fairly good shape and only needs cosmetic upgrades on the inside. Thing is, county records show it having 1 less bathroom and about 250 sq ft than it actually does. It looks like they added a bathroom and extra living space without a permit in the past(looks like at least 20 years ago). I am planning to remodel and sell the property but don’t want any issues to arise with the unpermitted work. What steps do I have to take to get everything permitted the right way. Would the city make me tear it down? Remove drywall? Any recommendations are appreciated. Thanks. 

[Maurice D.]

permits and assessor are two separate things.   you already own it, so go talk to the city permit office and see what they say.  if your renovation cost exceeds 25% of the value of the home, then the entire home must be brought to code, for example.  depends on the city.  if it's a small renovation, they will look just at what was changed.

in the future, doing the due diligence and calling them on unpermitted work might be a bargaining chip, to reduce the price? but not your case, since you closed already.

[Account Closed]

Originally posted by @Eli S.:

Hoping someone has had some experience with this...

I just bought a house that I am going to flip. Property is in fairly good shape and only needs cosmetic upgrades on the inside. Thing is, county records show it having 1 less bathroom and about 250 sq ft than it actually does. It looks like they added a bathroom and extra living space without a permit in the past(looks like at least 20 years ago). I am planning to remodel and sell the property but don’t want any issues to arise with the unpermitted work. What steps do I have to take to get everything permitted the right way. Would the city make me tear it down? Remove drywall? Any recommendations are appreciated. Thanks. 

 The city or county the property is in is the only entity that can answer that question for you. If they don't approve of the un-permitted work, they may require you to pay for a permit and have it inspected. They may require you take apart the un-permitted portion. If they approve of the work "as is" they will probably raise your taxes to reflect the added space and amenities. 

If you do nothing and the un-permitted bathroom floods the house, you *may* have a problem with your insurance company in settling the claim. If you sell the property knowing it has un-permitted work, and you don't disclose in writing, you *may* face a lawsuit. 

All of this is conjecture since 1. we have no idea where the property is located and 2. we have no idea how the city/county will rule and 3. we have no idea what a future buyer will be concerned about and if or how you would disclose what you know.

[Rick Pozos]

The big question is why did you not know this BEFORE you bought the property?? Due diligence is a big part of purchasing a property.

If you want to do this right and completely legal, you should go to the San Antonio Development Services office on Flores and Alamo St. Tell them that you just bought the house(have your deed with you) and you think some items were done 20+ years ago that were NOT permitted. If it was from 20 years ago AND you just bought it, they may not ask for anything to be done.

But they will tell you to go to the appraisal district to get the square footage changed.

Make sure you get a permit for the remodeling that you are going to do now after you get all this cleared up.

[Seth Teel]

I don't think you should advise the Development Services and/or the Bexar County Appraisal District. Here's why:  

• You don't know when the work was done. If prior to 2001, you're "grandfathered in" regardless.
• You don't know that it wasn't permitted.  Just because BCAD doesn't show an extra bath or square footage doesn't mean these projects weren't permitted. It has only been for the last 10 years or so, that the City alerts BCAD when new permits are pulled. Additionally permits are only searchable back to 2005 or so. 
• The codes have changed quite a bit since 2000.  Many of the items that NOW require a permit did not require a permit previously.

The first thing I would do is have licensed contractors/tradesmen evaluate the work and make sure it all functions correctly.  If there are deficiencies, pull the appropriate permits and perform the work. For the rest of your renovations work, pull the proper permits, and complete.  

You are not responsible for the indiscretions of others in the eyes of the city inspectors. That being said, you are liable if these items fail or even worse cause injury or death.  Have your systems evaluated by licensed professionals, bring them up to code, pull all permits, disclose everything upon re-sale.   After the back-end sale BCAD will update the beds, baths, and SF as long as the listing has the updated pedigree info (They're in bed with SABOR too).

This is the method we have used on several houses over the years.  We have been told by inspectors this is "in compliance."