All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

 That was kind of what I was thinking. All the work was done by friends and or family around 8 years ago when everyone was looking for work. Everything was done to code, looks and works great. 

I foolishly did a remodel on my home in Lacey, WA a few years ago and added a shower to a 1/2 bath with out getting a permit. Now I'm thinking about selling and wondering if it is worth it to come clean and go forward with the city on making it legal vs ripping it all out and going back to a 1/2 bath? What are your thoughts? It seems like all I ever hear are horror stories when dealing with permits and cities/counties....

I foolishly did a remodel on my home in Lacey, WA a few years ago and added a shower to a 1/2 bath with out getting a permit. Now I'm thinking about selling and wondering if it is worth it to come clean and go forward with the city on making it legal vs ripping it all out and going back to a 1/2 bath? What are your thoughts? It seems like all I ever hear are horror stories when dealing with permits and cities/counties....

Follow up to the situation....

I ended up in a bit of a legal grind for a bit over a year. Then some people offered me a deal on the place as is. With the upswing in the market I was still able to sell it for about what it had been sold for before and they ended up saving 50-60k vs comps. I was able to 1031 into 4 new properties with much better cash flow. It didn't end up how I might have liked but I feel all things considered it was better to lick my wounds and move on...

Kyle, thanks for your reply....

I don't recall the zoning change. They said if there was a record of the duplex being legally converted they would issue a variance (legal non-comforming).  There was some mention of a permit done ~ 1980-1981 but the city doesn't have a record of it, I have a call into the Secretary of State to try and track it down.

It was a duplex when I bought it and has been used as such since circa 1945-1960. The prior owner was contacted and he said as per the owner prior to him it was a legal duplex. It was remodeled around 1980 has separate meters etc... 

I am in the process of selling a duplex I purchased in '06. During a recent appraisal they mentioned that they couldn't find if it could be replaced if destroyed; turns out the zoning was changed in '08 and the city doesn't have record it was legally done. The house was first mentioned as a duplex while a person owned it from 1945-1960  in the historical survey done but it doesn't specifically mention what year it was done (if I can find record it was done prior to 1947 I'd be home free). Apparently there was a building permit in 1980-81 mentioned by a prior owner on microfiche; the city has no record of this. 

Does anyone have any good ideas of how this can be remedied or how much it may cost to bring in an attorney? I currently have calls into a few land use attorneys but so far only one call back who doesn't do free consultations, I'd at least like to know what I'm getting into before I crack open my wallet....

I have a fair amount of equity in a property I own which I loose money on every month. I've been considering selling it and buying a few properties around the area I currently live in. In the new area properties are considerably less expensive so I would need to buy two using the money I made from the sale as well as money I have saved up for their down payment. Any hitches for purchasing multiple properties from the sale of one in regards to the 1031?

Thanks, Branden

I was wondering how the tax deductions work when you have an inspection and appraisal in December but close in January. Should the appraisal and inspection be deducted in the year they where done or the year when the property was closed on?

Just to add what Ty put, it's pretty common to have this with rental property that is rented as they don't want to disturb the tenants with every potential person who is interested in the property...

I had a loan on a duplex through a local credit union. They follow the HARP guidelines(even though it wasn't backed by Fannie). My original loan was at 6.5% on a ARM which reset last year to 4.5% with 25yrs left. I'm switching to a 15yr loan and a 3.7 rate! My payment will go up about $100 dollars a month but the difference in principal paid per month makes it worth it.