Do "COs"/Legal renovations affect property tax?

Saw a very nice open house today, taxes were reasonable for the size of the house.

But we were told when we were looking around:
1. "The first floor bathroom is supposed to be a half but they made it a full, it is represented as a half since there is no CO"
2. "The basement is fully renovated with a bathroom, but no CO so its not being represented"
3. "The attic has been fully done and can be used as a room, but we're not representing it as being renovated"

I think they mentioned one or two other items that were fixed up but not 'official'

I was thinking, if we buy the house and its found out, once we make it legit would the taxes shoot through the roof?

Someone told me whats inside the house (bathrooms, etc) has no affect on the property tax - but that seems kind of weird.

Thanks

Re: Do "COs"/Legal renovations affect property tax?

You may not get a mortgage. If the town finds out, they can make you tear the new stuff out. I would never buy without a co.

Do

I think banks tend to look the other way with lack of COs but yeah, your taxes will for certain increase. They won’t make it easy to get all the proper permits in place, either. Everything is red tape and fees and delays. I completely get why people do things illegally and don’t get CO’s.

Whatever the taxes are now, double them and think if you’d still be interested.

Do

There is a good chance the sale won't go through until that is rectified

Re: Do "COs"/Legal renovations affect property tax?

Yes. Your taxes will increase. Some things that require c/o’s are non-assessable but these items all are.

Banks do not tend to “look the other way” and you may not be able to get a mortgage and close the deal until the proper c/o’s are obtained - which could cost a lot of time and money. I’d walk away from any house that doesn’t have the proper c/o’s

Re: Do "COs"/Legal renovations affect property tax?

Where is the house? The reason I ask is because everything you mentioned is super common in Queens. Won’t be an issue unless you get a summons from buildings dept. which means someone would have to report it and you would also have to let them in the house (which never do).

Long Island is totally different.

Re: Do "COs"/Legal renovations affect property tax?

Re: Do "COs"/Legal renovations affect property tax?

It depends. We get a semi inground pool put in. We got alll permits and got a CO.
Our taxes did not increase because in our town as long aa the pool isn't more than a certain amount of feet in the ground, it isn't considered an inground pool and there is no tax increase.
In the case you describe though, those sound like renovations that would raise the taxes

Message edited 4/24/2021 7:28:01 AM.

Re: Do "COs"/Legal renovations affect property tax?

An above ground or semi-inground pool will not affect your taxes because they are not considered "permanent." Same thing with a wooden deck v a brick patio.

Banks have gotten more and more strict over the years as far as having c/o's v not having c/o's. An entire room could have been listed as "non-livable space" which would not necessarily require a c/o. Some banks are more strict than others. We've had deals in my office held up for months and months because of c/o issues. We just had one deal where the seller had to pay an expediter $10K to get everything pushed through in order to sell.

The mere fact that the listing says they are being shown "as is" means the seller will not cooperate in making everything legal and it is on the purchaser to do so. That can run thousands of dollars to get proper permits, architectural plans if necessary, making sure everything is up to code and penalties for not having c/o' and permits in the first place. In my opinion, that's not something I would ever take on.

Re: Do "COs"/Legal renovations affect property tax?

There are a lot of things that I would take into consideration when looking at a house without CO's (not just the possible increase in taxes). Those renovations can cost a lot of $$. If they don't have CO's, the asking price of the house might not reflect the improvements they made. So you could be saving money by just having to get the permits.

How recent was the work done and who did it? If the work was done recently by a licensed contractor, chances are it's already done to current code. That means the permit process is a lot easier. If it was done a while ago or by the homeowner, it's probably out-of-date or not done to code and then you'd have to get it all fixed before inspectors will approve it. That could cost a lot of $$ and isn't worth the hassle.

We just got CO's for a couple different things and used an expeditor. It was only a about $1500 and I didn't have to do anything other than make a few phone calls, so it was a piece of cake.

Re: Do "COs"/Legal renovations affect property tax?

The c/o's may be an issue if you want to do any additional work down the road that would require permits. Alot of towns check everything when filing for new permits. That is something else to consider.

Re: Do "COs"/Legal renovations affect property tax?

As another posters said, the missing CO's and incorrect COs may present a problem with getting a mortgage.
And, this becomes your problem. The Town can make you rip everything out too.
If you buy the house, make them responsible for the COs or make sure you have a lot in escrow.