This City required individual lot grading plans, signed & sealed by an engineer, for each building permit.

There could be a lot of new builds going up in the outskirts of a city, but existing properties in the city closer to amenities may still be desirable. 

Hello,A job relocation to San Francisco CA early this year is making me ponder if I should be selling my owner occupied duplex in Jersey City and buy something in Berkeley CA due to its proximity to San Francisco and has some fairly decent schools  for my kids and also UC Berkeley .The low  2.5% interest rate on the Jersey City property turned into a golden chain but I think I am done with managing tenants and property and would like to get more into an Equity play.

At the time, all work was done with permits and signed off by the city. 

We live in an expensive city now our home worth is at least $1.15 million and we have 500K in equity.

You can also call the city to ask if there is a limit on how many people can live in the house (again do it without giving too many details).

But before we get this news, the tenants crawl in the attic and call the city inspector and they give us a notice.

Looking at their website, they seem to be nationwide with a skinny presence in some markets, like just one unit for the entire city.

Is rural or city water available?  

You can also look on the city's website under their construction code.