Buying a house with extensions built without permits.

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zahadoom

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So a house in the neighborhood may be going up for sale and my parents may buy it and use it as a rental. The problem is the owners have built a bunch of structures and walls without permits (i know because they were build like utter crap and would never have had permits).
The local municipality has begun inspecting properties in the area for illegal extensions as well as tearing down those structures so it would be a serious problem if my parents purchased at a price that included the 'value' of the illegal extensions.

How do you go about purchasing a house like that while making sure you are not scammed out of the value of the unauthorized extensions?

Is it fraud to sell a home without disclosing the existence of illegal extensions?

Thanks
 
You make an offer to purchase subject to receiving a copy of the approved plan. They should either have a council signed one, or get you one from Council.
 
cenredash said:
You make an offer to purchase subject to receiving a copy of the approved plan. They should either have a council signed one, or get you one from Council.
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Not enough, you also need to make the offer subject to
1. approved plans (as said)
2. occupation certificate

My folks ran into this, bought a place got the plans and then it turned ouot that final inspections were never carried out. No occupation certificate issued. They had to redo all the inspections cost a lot of extra money not budgeted for.
 
If they are buying through a bank the bank will only give a loan if there is approved plans for the extensions.
If they are buying cash the risk will fall onto them, so my suggestions would be to make sure there are approved plans or if they are buying cash get it for a much lower price and then remove/fix get plans for the extensions once it has registered onto their names.
 
There has to be certification of approved plans for any extensions (I believe even for swimming pools)
 
TECHNICALLY, a house cannot be transferred without approved plans and an occupancy certificate, at least as far as I know.
 
Speak to the council officials and ask them what the process would be if you bought a hypothetical house with these issues. They might be keen to give you some leeway in terms of time and approval costs because you are pro-active. The effort of policing building regulations and enforcing compliance is usually much more than the fees they get from it.

Then estimate what it would cost you to comply and work that into the price you are willing to offer. You might actually score from the deal, as poorly built extensions usually make a house look like crab.

Just remember that altering a building costs a lot more than building from fresh. It is even worse when the alterations are shoddy. You are bound to find the plumbing, electricity, water proofing, etc. was done badly as well and costs a lot to fix. If you get an opinion from, say, a builder to fix everything, double it for all the hidden surprises that are bound to appear.
 
Whatever you do dont buy a house. Without these papers. I biught a hiuse 11 yrs ago withoutbthese any onlybfound out later about unpaid fees , plans etc at the town planner. I got taken to court byvtown planner for someone elses negligence
 
Personally I'd tell them to eh...go away...without full plans and CoC.

Plus I don't trust all CoCs...so I'd be very tempted to make the sale contingent on a company of my choosing OKing the CoC (at my cost).

If you insist on doing this without plans (which as per above might not even be legal) then at least factor the possibility of the municipality leveling the extension into the price.

>>(I believe even for swimming pools)

I vaguely recall it involving something about enclosed spaces with a roof?
 
Surely to get a rates clearance certificate (to sell your property)you need approved plans for the extensions
 
B@rrels said:
Surely to get a rates clearance certificate (to sell your property)you need approved plans for the extensions
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How would they know about an extension that was never declared in the first place? (serious question)
 
HavocXphere said:
How would they know about an extension that was never declared in the first place? (serious question)
Click to expand...

They wouldn't, and a rates clearance certificate is simply a paper that says you don't owe council money.

I think if the OP included those terms the sellers would simply show you the door, plenty of potential buyers even in the current economic situation. If you not going to lose sleep over the sellers getting bashed, why not just report them to the council for illegal structures and then look out for a "for sale" sign a few months afterwards.
 
Hallo I have a question what will happend if someone build a wooden house with out permet and have people in the house Gr sharon
 
Jacolf said:
If they are buying through a bank the bank will only give a loan if there is approved plans for the extensions.
If they are buying cash the risk will fall onto them, so my suggestions would be to make sure there are approved plans or if they are buying cash get it for a much lower price and then remove/fix get plans for the extensions once it has registered onto their names.
Click to expand...
Bwhahahahahaha

Now you are sooooo hilarious.

Bank goes out to value the property as it stands. They give is a value. Bond gets approved, permitting buyer's finances are at correct level, PERMITTING the house value is higher or equal to their bonded investment.


How do I know?

We bought a house. Everything was approved, bond too, and while we were waiting for the final registration to occur I asked for the plans.
The front of the house, and outside kitchen side is VERY VERY different to what it looks like on paper.

We were then told that unless deeds office has an issue the sale will happen. And guess what? We were told that the differences are our problem to solve.

That was in July 2018
 
B@rrels said:
Surely to get a rates clearance certificate (to sell your property)you need approved plans for the extensions
Click to expand...
Nope.

That cert is only issued if the seller is paid up to date, plus an additional 3 months average worth of bills. So example if rates, water, power is average R2000 for the previous 6 months then the seller has to be R6000 in advance with COJ for them to issue the clearance.

The seller is refunded what is left once the transfer goes through
 
zahadoom said:
So a house in the neighborhood may be going up for sale and my parents may buy it and use it as a rental. The problem is the owners have built a bunch of structures and walls without permits (i know because they were build like utter crap and would never have had permits).
The local municipality has begun inspecting properties in the area for illegal extensions as well as tearing down those structures so it would be a serious problem if my parents purchased at a price that included the 'value' of the illegal extensions.

How do you go about purchasing a house like that while making sure you are not scammed out of the value of the unauthorized extensions?

Is it fraud to sell a home without disclosing the existence of illegal extensions?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Did they eventually buy the property?
 
Venomous said:
Bwhahahahahaha

Now you are sooooo hilarious.

Bank goes out to value the property as it stands. They give is a value. Bond gets approved, permitting buyer's finances are at correct level, PERMITTING the house value is higher or equal to their bonded investment.


How do I know?

We bought a house. Everything was approved, bond too, and while we were waiting for the final registration to occur I asked for the plans.
The front of the house, and outside kitchen side is VERY VERY different to what it looks like on paper.

We were then told that unless deeds office has an issue the sale will happen. And guess what? We were told that the differences are our problem to solve.

That was in July 2018
Click to expand...

Hi Bud. Did you manage to get the extensions approved?

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread. Facing a samiliar situation. Considering putting an OTP on a place but seller has disclosed that his plans aren't updated and says he is not willing to get them updated but has the approvals from the HOA and plans from the architect.

Just wondering what the costs are if I have to get this done after taking ownership and also if the banks will even approve a bond without the approved plans. Thanks
 
Dion_M said:
Hi Bud. Did you manage to get the extensions approved?

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread. Facing a samiliar situation. Considering putting an OTP on a place but seller has disclosed that his plans aren't updated and says he is not willing to get them updated but has the approvals from the HOA and plans from the architect.

Just wondering what the costs are if I have to get this done after taking ownership and also if the banks will even approve a bond without the approved plans. Thanks
Click to expand...

Run away.. The changes might not be up to latest codes. Meaning that the alterations may be illegal and then you have to either spend more money to bring them up to code or even worst case demolish.
 
Yeah thinking the same. Could become a real headache.
 
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