by The Dingo

Created on: January 06, 2010

Common Pitfalls to Avoid in Home Ownership

I bought my first home in 2001.  I was excited as any first-time home-buyer would be.  The property was built in 1977 and needed a bit of work.  But I was up for the challenge.  Over the next eight years I continued to remodel the home.  It was shaping up nicely.  Then one day, while going through my mail, I opened a notice stating my property was in violation of county code.   I was being cited for not having a permit for a six-foot fence on the property.  Since the fence was on the property when I bought it, I didn't feel I had anything to worry about.  I was wrong. 

When I bought the house, I had a simple home inspection performed.  It checked for structural integrity, termites, roofing, etc.  But one main element my inspection did not perform and subsequently catch was the presence of all required property permits.  The county, via its citation, told me that the fence on my property did not have the required permit for its existence.  As such, I was now responsible to obtain one.  At first, I thought this was a title-insurance issue and that it was their error for not catching this.  But I discovered that title insurance only checks for any liens or legal encumbrances which would impede the sale of the property.  Unfortunately, permits are not part of this.  Ironically, every homeowner whose attention I have brought this to is equally disillusioned that this service is not provided in the initial title search.

This lesson ended up costing me about one-hundred fifty dollars in permit fees and recording fees, not to mention the time involved (waiting in line at the county's building department and the recording office at the court house).  After this experience, I wondered how many properties across the country have pre-existing and unknown property violations.  And with county codes changing all the time, this makes it even more difficult to assess.  As of 2009, my local county now requires permits for sprinkler-system installations. 

It is imperative for a potential buyer to know what violations there are, if any.  Otherwise, once title is transferred, the new owner may have to spend hundreds of dollars to obtain the required permits.  Failure to comply can lead to fines and liens.   And the costs of not catching such violations continuously increase.  Had the prior owner pulled a permit for the fence, the fee would have been much less.  Most counties view permits for pre-existing violations the same as new construction.  My county currently imposes a $75 fee.  The property was built in 1977, when the fee to pull a permit was $15.  Any long-standing violations inevitably will yield an inflated cost to future owners for something that should have been done originally.  So do yourself a tremendous favor and get a complete inspection that includes a check for all required property permits.

Learn more about this author, The Dingo.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.