Homes with unpermitted additions are typically complicated to sell your home in Atlanta and might not get you the price that you are looking for compared to if your home had permitted additions.

For most major home improvement projects, you will need some type of legal permit. However, there are plenty of homeowners that often choose to make improvements without them. While doing so can save time and money in the short run, it may drastically decrease the value of a home when a homeowner wants to sell.

If your home has an unpermitted addition and you are looking to sell your house in Atlanta, whether you are the one that made the addition or not, there are a couple of options you can choose between. However, do note that if you want to go the traditional selling route, the process will likely be a bit more complicated.

Getting a Retroactive Permit

One option is to figure out whether or not your can go to the county or city and put in an application for a retroactive permit. There are a few things to note here.

If you are the one who made unpermitted additions, you will likely have to pay additional fees and taxes on top of any penalties and the standard permit fee. However, if you purchased the house in Atlanta with the additions already in place, the city might waive the fees and penalties.

If you get a retroactive permit, an inspector might have to ask you to tear down some of the construction so that they may examine any work that has been done. Essentially, you may need to end up spending more money to rebuild things if your additions do not meat city code requirements.

Unfortunately, there are many people who apply for retroactive permits, only to find out that they need to completely remove the additions they made. Not only can this cost a lot of time and money, but it may also result in a reduced appraisal.

Your best bet is to hire a contractor to come in and inspect the work before applying for a retroactive permit so that you know whether the addition meets the requirements or not.

You should also note that applying for a retroactive permit does not mean you’ll get your permit overnight. This process can take weeks or months. If a retroactive permit is not within your timeline or budget, then selling your home as-is might be your only option.

Selling Your Home As-Is

Your second option is to sell your home as-is. When you sell your home as-is, you must disclose any unpermitted additions. However, the beauty of selling as-is is that you don’t need to get any permits or perform any additional renovations to get your home up to code.

Here at Tru Buyers, we buy plenty of homes with unpermitted additions, as it is our job to deal with the additional fees and permits that go with making a home livable for new owners. Give us a call today to see how we can help you take the next steps in your life.