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LDrinkh20
LIF Adult
Member since 9/09 1820 total posts
Name:
Lauren
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finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
Did any of you ladies purchase homes that had finished basements without C/Os? The home that we are purchasing has a finished basement with a bathroom and no C/O. The sellers will not get a c/o and techinically cant anyway since the ceiling is not 8ft tall. We don't know if we should go through with the deal or not. What did you ladies do? Did you have a difficult time during the appraisal? Any advice would be great.
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Posted 10/31/10 9:04 AM  |
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alli3131
Peanut is here!!!!!!
Member since 5/09 18388 total posts
Name:
Allison
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
Posted by LDrinkh20
Did any of you ladies purchase homes that had finished basements without C/Os? The home that we are purchasing has a finished basement with a bathroom and no C/O. The sellers will not get a c/o and techinically cant anyway since the ceiling is not 8ft tall. We don't know if we should go through with the deal or not. What did you ladies do? Did you have a difficult time during the appraisal? Any advice would be great.
Your bank might not let you.
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| Posted 10/31/10 9:09 AM |
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LDrinkh20
LIF Adult
Member since 9/09 1820 total posts
Name:
Lauren
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
Posted by alli3131
Posted by LDrinkh20
Did any of you ladies purchase homes that had finished basements without C/Os? The home that we are purchasing has a finished basement with a bathroom and no C/O. The sellers will not get a c/o and techinically cant anyway since the ceiling is not 8ft tall. We don't know if we should go through with the deal or not. What did you ladies do? Did you have a difficult time during the appraisal? Any advice would be great.
Your bank might not let you.
Well they can't not let you but they can say that the bathroom needs to be ripped out which is precisely why I am posting to get others experiences.
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| Posted 10/31/10 9:11 AM |
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Mrs213
????????
Member since 2/09 18986 total posts
Name:
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
Is it only because of the bathroom? We have one but there isnt a bathroom and nothing ever came up about a CO
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| Posted 10/31/10 9:49 AM |
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LDrinkh20
LIF Adult
Member since 9/09 1820 total posts
Name:
Lauren
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
I think it's because of the bathroom. There is actually a kitchendown there too but we had the sellers remove the stove so that it wouldnt be an issue. Our attorney, their attorney,our REA and inspector all said that its unlikely to be an issue but we are just nervous.
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| Posted 10/31/10 9:50 AM |
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LDrinkh20
LIF Adult
Member since 9/09 1820 total posts
Name:
Lauren
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
DH's fear is god forbid there was a fire and it was determined that it came from the basement, we wouldn't get any insurance money because there was no permit. Scary, right?
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| Posted 10/31/10 9:52 AM |
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Bearcat
Love my little girls!!! <3
Member since 6/10 10818 total posts
Name:
E
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
yea it's def. bc of the bathroom. did your atty advise you one way or the other?
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| Posted 10/31/10 10:04 AM |
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LDrinkh20
LIF Adult
Member since 9/09 1820 total posts
Name:
Lauren
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
Posted by Bearcat
yea it's def. bc of the bathroom. did your atty advise you one way or the other?
Well, he tried to get the language of the contract to read that we could back out of the deal should the bathroom be an issue with our lender. Unfortunately, the seller's attorney didn't agree with it since his clients are purchasing another house which is hinging on the sale of their current home.
What do you think?
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| Posted 10/31/10 10:05 AM |
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maybesoon
LIF Adult
Member since 9/09 5981 total posts
Name:
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
Posted by LDrinkh20
Posted by Bearcat
yea it's def. bc of the bathroom. did your atty advise you one way or the other?
Well, he tried to get the language of the contract to read that we could back out of the deal should the bathroom be an issue with our lender. Unfortunately, the seller's attorney didn't agree with it since his clients are purchasing another house which is hinging on the sale of their current home.
What do you think?
we have similar issue except CO is for extension and Deck. sellers will put $ in escrow for us to fix it  not a good situation but it is what it is. will they be will ing to put $ for you to fix the problem (maybe remove the bathroom)
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| Posted 10/31/10 10:13 AM |
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alli3131
Peanut is here!!!!!!
Member since 5/09 18388 total posts
Name:
Allison
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
Posted by LDrinkh20
Posted by alli3131
Posted by LDrinkh20
Did any of you ladies purchase homes that had finished basements without C/Os? The home that we are purchasing has a finished basement with a bathroom and no C/O. The sellers will not get a c/o and techinically cant anyway since the ceiling is not 8ft tall. We don't know if we should go through with the deal or not. What did you ladies do? Did you have a difficult time during the appraisal? Any advice would be great.
Your bank might not let you.
Well they can't not let you but they can say that the bathroom needs to be ripped out which is precisely why I am posting to get others experiences.
Exactly...they will say rip it out and looks like your seller doesn't want to take on that expense....and personally I wouldn't pay for it....so essentially the bank won't give you the financing unless it is gone or legalized.
so if you won't get financing because the bathroom is there then that would be part of the failure to get financing clause in the contract that should be in there.
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| Posted 10/31/10 10:27 AM |
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allikat
LIF Infant
Member since 5/06 283 total posts
Name:
Alli
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
Posted by LDrinkh20
DH's fear is god forbid there was a fire and it was determined that it came from the basement, we wouldn't get any insurance money because there was no permit. Scary, right?
Could this really happen? Would insurance not cover that?
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| Posted 10/31/10 10:41 AM |
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KittyGags
LIF Adult
Member since 7/09 5614 total posts
Name:
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
I closed on my house missing 2 COs. Shhhhh!
One was for a bedroom that was converted into a loft, they took part of the attic. The other was for a shed.
We were ok closing without em.
I think you should be fine, but you might run into issues when you go to sell. Thats what we were told.
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| Posted 10/31/10 11:12 AM |
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Cheeks24
Living a dream
Member since 1/08 8589 total posts
Name:
Cheeks
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
Posted by LDrinkh20
DH's fear is god forbid there was a fire and it was determined that it came from the basement, we wouldn't get any insurance money because there was no permit. Scary, right?
I would make them have an electrician inspect the work to make sure it's okay. Have your lawyer at that to the contract.
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| Posted 10/31/10 11:53 AM |
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ItsaJoya19
my cup runneth over
Member since 1/10 2949 total posts
Name:
E
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
This happened to us but it was with a dormer. The sellers had an open permit for the shell of the dormer but never closed it. They then made 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. Our atty told us we would never close without the CO for the shell.
In our case we worked out a deal with the seller to go in and gut the upstairs ourselves. They paid for the dumpster. They had a plumber come in and remove all of the plumbing from the bathroom and the town came to inspect. They paid for the CO.
This worked for us because we were planning on gutting upstairs anyway and this way it was on their dollar. We did not ask for the seller to come down on price bc we were getting it for 40k less than asking as it was and they paid for removal.
Is this bathroom a deal breaker for you guys? If you can do without the bathroom, see if the seller would drop the price bc now it's not a 3 bathroom house, it's a 2 bath (for example).
Good luck! I know it's stressful 
If you really love this house fight for it!! There are ways to work it out!
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| Posted 10/31/10 12:30 PM |
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LDrinkh20
LIF Adult
Member since 9/09 1820 total posts
Name:
Lauren
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
At this point we would be ok with them having to rip out the bathroom though everyone we talk to with finished basements say that it probably won't even be an issue.
Our concern is the homeowners insurance. We have to look into that...keep the opinions coming ladies! Thanks1
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| Posted 10/31/10 1:18 PM |
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Bearcat
Love my little girls!!! <3
Member since 6/10 10818 total posts
Name:
E
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
Posted by LDrinkh20
Posted by Bearcat
yea it's def. bc of the bathroom. did your atty advise you one way or the other?
Well, he tried to get the language of the contract to read that we could back out of the deal should the bathroom be an issue with our lender. Unfortunately, the seller's attorney didn't agree with it since his clients are purchasing another house which is hinging on the sale of their current home.
What do you think?
Well... the sellers are taking quite a gamble then. If they really want their house sold b/c their new home is contingent on it, i'd ask your atty to put more pressure on them to remedy the problem, one way or another.
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| Posted 10/31/10 7:55 PM |
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LDrinkh20
LIF Adult
Member since 9/09 1820 total posts
Name:
Lauren
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
Posted by Bearcat
Posted by LDrinkh20
Posted by Bearcat
yea it's def. bc of the bathroom. did your atty advise you one way or the other?
Well, he tried to get the language of the contract to read that we could back out of the deal should the bathroom be an issue with our lender. Unfortunately, the seller's attorney didn't agree with it since his clients are purchasing another house which is hinging on the sale of their current home.
What do you think?
Well... the sellers are taking quite a gamble then. If they really want their house sold b/c their new home is contingent on it, i'd ask your atty to put more pressure on them to remedy the problem, one way or another.
He is willing to do that. we are just afraid to lose the house by playing hardball ya know? Ugh I hate this!
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| Posted 10/31/10 8:25 PM |
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NASP09
...
Member since 6/05 6030 total posts
Name:
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
It sounds like the sellers NEED to sell more urgently than you need to buy. THey should be doing whatever they can to ensure the sale!
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| Posted 10/31/10 8:30 PM |
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LDrinkh20
LIF Adult
Member since 9/09 1820 total posts
Name:
Lauren
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
Posted by NASP09
It sounds like the sellers NEED to sell more urgently than you need to buy. THey should be doing whatever they can to ensure the sale!
Should being the operative word lol.
FOr whatever reason the lawyer is making it seem as if they are not willing to budge. They won't lower the price and they won't/can't get a CO. AND they won't allow the language of the contract o to be changed so that we can cancel if the appraisal doesn't go well. We are totally confused as to what to do.
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| Posted 10/31/10 8:33 PM |
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snowprincess
My happy babies
Member since 3/06 3428 total posts
Name:
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
Posted by LDrinkh20
Posted by NASP09
It sounds like the sellers NEED to sell more urgently than you need to buy. THey should be doing whatever they can to ensure the sale!
Should being the operative word lol.
FOr whatever reason the lawyer is making it seem as if they are not willing to budge. They won't lower the price and they won't/can't get a CO. AND they won't allow the language of the contract o to be changed so that we can cancel if the appraisal doesn't go well. We are totally confused as to what to do.
in this market - a clause getting out if the haouse does appraise right which includes COs is a major reason to back out of the deal - that is a major red flag - they need to budge majoly - give contigency or fix problem thats it
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| Posted 10/31/10 9:22 PM |
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KLSbear
LIF Adult
Member since 1/06 1908 total posts
Name:
Karen
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
I'll throw in our experience as it would impact what you intend to do in the future.
Our house had half the basement finished. Sheetrock walls, and a divider under the stairs separating the finished and unfinished side. The finished side had a dry bar - no plumbing. Drop ceiling with lights and a linoleum tile floor in really bad shape.
It turns out that there was no CO, and we never realized it was something that should have been on a CO - it never came up anywhere in the process. Fast forward several years when we dormered the second floor and expanded a bathroom up there. As part of the inspection process the town does a full inspection - notes that there is no CO for the basement, and in order to close the permit on the dormer we have to get a permit (with penalties) for the basement ($800+) and we're required to bring the basement up to code - sheetrock over the furnace, self-closing door between the sides, seal off the underside of the stairs with sheetrock, improve the wall or add railing to the stairs, etc. DH isn't handy and couldn't have done it himself. Our contractor cut us a deal since he was already at the house doing work - a couple of extra days and more materials - I think it was about $1500 more, so the lack of CO cost us over $2000 to fix their illegal and incomplete renovations.
You may get away with it now, but if you do anything with permits later you'll have to get the CO and make it right, or when you sell, the next buyer may not be willing to accept the lack of CO and it could make it difficult when you want to sell.
Message edited 10/31/2010 10:15:26 PM.
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| Posted 10/31/10 10:14 PM |
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maiden
Whoa!
Member since 5/08 1814 total posts
Name:
T
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
Different people have different comfort levels with this, but my lawyer advised us to get COs for everything because in the future, we could end up paying thousands of dollars for issues. I personally would not be comfortable without a CO, but I know that other people would.
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| Posted 11/1/10 10:46 PM |
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creddy5
LIF Infant
Member since 8/09 158 total posts
Name:
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
Your DH makes a good point and what if you want to sell down the line and have to deal with this issue. Not fair to be your problem so I would seriously think if you really want this house. We had a few things with our house that the sellers applied for and got permits, took MONTHS but we finally got them. Def a huge PITA but I'd take your attorneys advise pretty seriously....
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| Posted 11/2/10 11:10 AM |
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MsSissy
xoxoxo
Member since 3/07 39159 total posts
Name:
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
Posted by KLSbear
I'll throw in our experience as it would impact what you intend to do in the future.
Our house had half the basement finished. Sheetrock walls, and a divider under the stairs separating the finished and unfinished side. The finished side had a dry bar - no plumbing. Drop ceiling with lights and a linoleum tile floor in really bad shape.
It turns out that there was no CO, and we never realized it was something that should have been on a CO - it never came up anywhere in the process. Fast forward several years when we dormered the second floor and expanded a bathroom up there. As part of the inspection process the town does a full inspection - notes that there is no CO for the basement, and in order to close the permit on the dormer we have to get a permit (with penalties) for the basement ($800+) and we're required to bring the basement up to code - sheetrock over the furnace, self-closing door between the sides, seal off the underside of the stairs with sheetrock, improve the wall or add railing to the stairs, etc. DH isn't handy and couldn't have done it himself. Our contractor cut us a deal since he was already at the house doing work - a couple of extra days and more materials - I think it was about $1500 more, so the lack of CO cost us over $2000 to fix their illegal and incomplete renovations.
You may get away with it now, but if you do anything with permits later you'll have to get the CO and make it right, or when you sell, the next buyer may not be willing to accept the lack of CO and it could make it difficult when you want to sell.
Something similar happened to friends of ours. And because I saw what they went through I will not buy a house without all the CO's.
They were told there was only 1 issue. That was till the new inspector came around.
I'm very surprised the homeowners are giving you such a hard time in todays market.
Message edited 11/2/2010 11:26:06 AM.
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| Posted 11/2/10 11:25 AM |
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JennZ
MY LIFE!!
Member since 8/05 25463 total posts
Name:
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Re: finished Basement/CO issues/ House purchase
We walked from 2 houses because of NO c of o. That is a huge issue long term. I'm not paying for something a seller should inorder to sell theee house. And from mybexperience a lender will not lend after the appraisal if things aren't up to date. My sellers removed the stove and got the c of o for the bathroom in the basement. That was in our contract and we would NOT sign without it.
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| Posted 11/2/10 11:45 AM |
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