Non-permitted Addition in California

[Logan Vierstra]

I got a friend trying to sell a house in El Dorado county that he has built a rather large addition onto. He has none of the addition permitted. Hes told me that when he bought it, it was roughly 1000 sq ft, and that he's added about 1400. When I've researched the property it says that it's 1800 square feet on Realtor and property radar, and 2400 on Zillow. So I figure in reality he has somewhere between 600-1400 sq ft non-permitted addition. It's still a long way from finished, but his plan is to keep working on it till he gets it nice enough to sell to a cash buyer that doesn't care about it being permitted. I told him I believe he's hoping to find a unicorn. He's under the impression that he can get 400-450k on it considering that comps to his property are selling in the 600-700 range(2400 sq ft permitted, and in ARV condition). Comps on his property ,assuming that 1600 sq ft are permitted, are falling closer to the 400 range. I think he's more likely to get 250 for it.

My questions are:

• Can he even sell the property without tearing down the addition?
• if so, what could he realistically expect to get?