More opinions needed please [UPDATED with more opinions desperately needed on page 2

DH & I are in semi-contract on a home. Both parties have signed, but our atty asked them to hold up depositing our down payment b/c we discovered they did not have a proper CO for the dormer on the house.
So, the homeowners (actually her daugher, as the homeowner is now in a nursing home) called in an architect to look at the dormer. Apparently the ceiling upstairs is not high enough so technically they can only get a CO for a finished attic, not a second floor.
As of now, the upstairs has 2 bedrooms and a small "office" space above the bathroom downstairs. We planned on using the space as our master, a nursery (someday), and making the office a bathroom. Then, down the road, we planned on front dormering the house.
So, now that we've learned the space is not legal for living, we have to accept that permits for future projects will not be obtainable.
We are still legally able to back out? Would you, or would you risk living in an illegal space that may cause you problems done the road?
We'll be very disappointed if we have to back out. The house is not perfect, but we love the neighborhood, and got a good price. AHHH! What would you do? Sorry this is so long.

Message edited 9/8/2006 10:09:35 AM.

Re: More opinions needed please [LONG!]

this is JMO but I would walk away. if it's not legal now, you will either 1. have to put a LOT of money into it to make it legit and 2. if you decide to just live with it, you will have a lot of problems when you go to sell it.

Re: More opinions needed please [LONG!]

I would walk away also.
it sounds like a huge headache.....

Re: More opinions needed please [LONG!]

Re: More opinions needed please [LONG!]

I would renegotiate the price if you still want to move forward.

Thats 2 less bedrooms than you had to begin with.

If that is not an option I would back out because you wont be able to sell the house in the future including the legal living space unless you put the $ in to legalize it.

Re: More opinions needed please [LONG!]

Re: More opinions needed please [LONG!]

Re: More opinions needed please [LONG!]

Problem is - what do you think is fair $$-wise? We have no idea what kind of $$ we're talking to fix the problem.

Re: More opinions needed please [UPDATE - MORE OPINIONS NEEDED ON PAGE 2!]

UPDATE - I know, believe me, if I'm driving you crazy, you wouldn't believe how much I'm making my Dad's head spin with my indecisiveness!

Anyway, it doing some research - seems a lot of homes in Wantagh / Levittown were built the way this home was built, and many don't have all the COs (just a CO calling their second floor a "finished attic"). But people still use this as living space.

And, the other question is, since we planned on dormering the front of the house down the line, wouldn't we have to raise the roof anyway (which would then solve our ceiling being too low on the dormer problem)?

The homeowners have offered to lower the price - a good amt. Being that now I'm learning a lot of the homes in the area are in the same boat, would you move forward and live in it "as is" now and just fix the whole thing down the line when we front dormer?

To put this in perspective - this is NOT a big house. It's a little cape. But the way things are going - we could be able to get it for under $400K - it's in Wantagh Woods. To me, this is unheard of to touch anything for this price, in this area. AND, it's not a mess, it's outdated - but we knew we planned to update from the beginning.

Ok, I'm done rambling - your thoughts?

Thanks!!

Message edited 9/8/2006 10:07:50 AM.

Re: More opinions needed please [UPDATED with more opinions desperately needed on page 2

Well it sounds like you have a good price in a great area. And it's true that when you dormer you can have the ceilings raised...but I would try to do a little research into how much that's going to cost you before you commit.

Also, how did you find out about the other houses in the area having the same issues? I wouldn't trust word of mouth from the sellers or agent on that one.

If this is not a starter home for you and plan to stay there for a long long time, then you can consider going ahead with the purchase but if this is a starter home for you, it's going to cause you problems when you try to sell so I would back out.

Re: More opinions needed please [UPDATED with more opinions desperately needed on page 2

Thanks!
Basically, I poked around on mynassauproperty (clicking on the homes surrounding this home) and looked at what COs were listed and their square footage to determine if they got the legitimate COs for their second story.
Also, this home is being sold by the original owner's daughter - they literally lived there, a family of 5, for over 50 years. The dormer has been in place for the majority of those yrs (added in the first 5 yrs). So, part of me feels like, if they did it for 50yrs, why can't we for 5?

And we do plan to stay - not to start there and sell. Otherwise, I agree, I certainly wouldn't want to have the roof raised just to meet the CO requirements for the next buyer.

Message edited 9/8/2006 10:23:34 AM.