VeeJay
Love baby feet
Member since 2/09 2894 total posts
Name:
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Town of Islip and filing for permit
We are in the planning stages of adding a master bath. We will not be adding any square footage to the house, just converting a room to a bathroom, and of course putting in the plumbing.
Contractor is asking us if we want to file for the permit. Now I feel like this is going to delay the whole process even more.
Anyone have any thoughts? Do we move ahead without a permit? Consequences if we do?
Thanks.
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Dee0522
And then there were four...
Member since 6/09 2088 total posts
Name:
Denise
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Re: Town of Islip and filing for permit
We are planning the exact same thing... converting a bedroom to a master bath with no addition of sq footage. DH is leaning toward not getting a permit and just dealing with any issues if and when we ever sell the house. I have no idea how much a penalty would be though, to get a permit after the fact. The only other thing of concern is insurance... I'm not sure if adding a bathroom would affect coverage. Something else to look into.
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Re: Town of Islip and filing for permit
I would get the requisite permit and C/Os upfront, if there is even the smallest chance that you would ever want to sell and that you would want to get value for the master bath.
As a realtor, I deal with C/O issues every day, and I think it is costlier and more stressful to have to get the C/Os after the fact. If you get a C/O when the work is done, then you are grandfathered in if any codes change, etc. But if you get the bath built now, and then want to sell in 15 years, the bath might not conform to the current codes, requiring it to be re-done or removed.
I recently sold a home where the house had no C/O for a dormer or a bathroom that was added upstairs. In the process of getting the C/O for the dormer, the bathroom had to be pulled out because the dimensions weren't correct (not enough clearance around certain fixtures) and there was no way to fix it in the existing space that was allocated for the bathroom.
Also, even if a future buyer and their lender doesn't care about a bath without a C/O, they won't attribute value to it. For example, if there's a house with 2 bathrooms and a third bath in the basement with no C/O, I tell my buyers who are making an offer to ignore the basement bath for value purposes, and we treat it like a 2 bath home when we comp it. Likewise, if I have a listing with an extra bath with no C/O, I don't put that bath on the listing. Lots of appraisers will overlook an extra bath with no C/O, but again, give no value for it.
A master bath can add significant value to a house, so if you are going through the time and expense of doing it, I'd do it right. Just have your contractor take care of it for you.
A lot of contractors try to dissuade people from getting C/Os because they don't want to deal with the time delay and the paperwork, but it makes life so much easier when you have everything done correctly and with proper C/Os. It is such a PAIN to rectify things after the fact (and I've experienced this personally as well as professionally).
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