All Forum Posts by: Cynthia Hartley

Like Matthew, I'm not familiar with California. However, in DC, if it is not a load bearing wall, the city will actually allow the property owner to submit their own drawing - even hand drawn. I used excel to make each cell a perfect square. I then used each cell to represent 0.5", 1", whatever worked best to layout the floor plan to scale and included walls, windows, electrical outlets, and recessed lights as necessary. It took some time, but I saved myself quite a bit of money on that one. 

My neighbor inherited a home that has been in her family for 50+ years, i.e. accumulated depreciation has been reached. Do they have to pay capital gains tax when they sell the property?

If I am not mistaken, per R-6 (or maybe it is R-7) zoning regulations, one can have one unit per every 750 sq ft lot. If your lot is more than 1500 sq ft, you can have 2 units. If it is more than 2250 sq ft, you can have 3 units. 

@Ned Carey Wow! That's great. Good to know. Finger's crossed

@Chris Szepessy Thanks for mentioning zoning. I will inquire as to what may be permissible.

@Lamont Marable It is big enough to park on, but the fence does not have a gate wide enough for a vehicle to fit through. 

@Ned Carey - Great idea on renting it out to neighbors for a garden. I will look into that.

I have a fenced-in (6' wood fence) empty lot in Baltimore that I am not ready to build on. However, I would like to put it to use to generate some sort of income so that I can pay for annual taxes and lawn maintenance. Any suggestions?

@Manolo D. Thank you for that advice. When I had my follow up call with the contractor about the permits he said that he doesn't pull permits, but he knows someone who could do it for $800. Why would I spend $800 to have a $40 permit pulled?! I told him I would pull the e-permit online myself. That said, moving forward, I will put a clause in contracts to have the contractor identify any permits that are needed. I don't know if that language is strong enough. Suggestions? Additionally, I am now compiling a spreadsheet of permits needed and the costs so that they are readily available to me in the future - part of my trust but verify approach.

@Chris Seveney

The property is in a historic neighborhood. I spoke with the city planner who said that not only do I need a permit, but I am not allowed to have a chain link fence - despite other chain link fences installed on adjacent properties. I later spoke with the neighborhood historic preservation representative who said a fence around the chainlink fence would work. fence company. They said they would install a wood fence around the chainlink fence for just the cost of materials.  

On the plus side, the price of the chain link fence was half that other fence installers wanted to charge, so the money spent will be chalked up to a lesson learned. I won't make the non-permitting mistake twice. 

Thanks again to all who provided their input!!