All Forum Posts by: Ryan O.

You could also try CM Lavoie and Associates out of Plainfield.  I have used them for engineering work in the past, and they have been reasonable.

@Rahul D.

Yes, I would recommend pulling a permit now.  It will be much worse if you get caught doing the work without a permit.  

Not sure what municipality you are in, but many towns, especially those where transfer stamps are required to sell, will look at the listing to see if recent work was done.  Think of the pain you will have to go through if the town red tags your house after you have a seller and you are ready to close.  

In addition, look at paragraph 23 (g) of the Multi-board real estate contract.  I have had buyers attorneys ask for proof of permits.  It happens often.

Many "contractors" do not want to go through the contractor registration process in Dupage county because it requires them to show proof of insurance (both liability and workmans comp if they have employees), not to mention the $100-$300 yearly fee.

@Kenneth Garrett is correct, just about everything requires a permit.  Dupage county (unincorporated) takes it a bit further than some of the othe municipalities in the area, but that is just the cost of doing buisiness.

@Nino Alfano

What is an EZ permit???  never heard of that.  

@rahul

Back to back bathrooms are done done all the time, it is often preferable as it saves money on plumbing  costs.  I have never heard of it not being allowed. 

Now if the bathrooms were not roughed in by a qualified plumber then it is likely that the dwv piping was not done to code. 

Get a licensed plumber in there to take a look.  He'll you could snap a few pics of the drain and vent piping and post them here.  There are certainly enough qualified people on this forum to tell you if a handyman or plumber did the work. 

One last word of advice, pull permits next time.  If you were doing work in Dupage county, especially unincorporated, it is almost assured permits were required.  

Does anyone have a HVAC contractor they would recommend in Dupage County?  The contractor I have been working with for years sold his business and I am less than enamored with the new ownership's pricing.  I have an immediate need for one A/C condenser and coil, and will be closing on a property that needs the same possibly a furnace as well.

@Michael Herr @Jon Holdman beat me to it, but I would be less concerned about the lack of thinset that I would be about putting the CBU over 1x planks without at least 5/8" plywood over the planks.

As Jon said the 1x planks will almost certainly deflect more than the tile allow resulting in cracked tiled over time.   CBU does not provide any increased structural support, you need the plywood.

@Curt Davis @Joe Impagliazzo 

 You both state that she could get a percentage 80% or 85% after seasoning, is that a percentage of purchase price, or appraised value?

@Joe Impagliazzo So if I'm understanding you correctly there is no seasoning requirement to refinance an existing mortgage/lien, but a refi after a cash purchase requires a 6 month seasoning period? 

I need some input for the community.  I have a friend who's daughter is shopping around for her first home. They are hoping to purchase a distressed property and rehab it for the daughter to live in.

The strategy is for my friend to loan his daughter the purchase price of the home, say 180K, so she can have the advantage of purchasing with cash.  Lets assume the loan will not be recorded.

The daughter will use her own funds to rehab the property, refinance with a conventional lender once the rehab is complete, and pay back the loan from her father.

Will a lender allow this?

If so, are there any seasoning requirements?

How much would the daughter be able to refi for?

Thanks

@J Scott 

 and others who build in areas where basements are common.  Are you counting the basement square footage or just above grade living area? 

@John Gregg 

I use Foremost for my rehabs.  It is not builders risk insurance, but it does cover loss and liability.  You only pay for the time you are covered.  

I think I looked at Zurich's builders risk when I was first starting out and if I'm remembering correctly I had to testify that I was a contractor with a certain number of years experience.  I wasn't so I opted for Foremost and have been using them since.