Don’t Get Caught With an Open Permit on Your House

Vero Beach, FL Real Estate Video BlogPodcast with Kelly Fischer

Open permits can cause a lot of inconvenience for homeowners. Here’s why you should always check if the house you’re buying or selling has any open permits.

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Today I want to talk about open permits and how inconvenient they can make things as far as your home is concerned.

One of the things our team routinely does when listing properties and working with buyers is check our houses for open permits. Any kind of replacement work done on a property typically requires a permit with the county and an additional final permit.

The reason homes have open permits is once the owner(s) of that home paid the contractor for the work they did, that contractor never went back to the county to finalize the required permits. If you’ve had work done on your home, it’s very important that you check that your house doesn’t have any open permits, as having them can cause trouble down the road. I know from experience.

If your home has an open permit, that leaves you with an open problem.

Recently, we were having some work done on our house and we assumed that the contractor we hired went through the proper channels to acquire the proper permit. Unfortunately, we were wrong. As the work was being done, the county showed up and issued a Stop Work Order. Our contractor then had to stand outside on our front lawn and wait for an inspector to arrive before he could continue working. I was actually glad this happened in a way because it saved me from having to worry about open permits down the road.

If you’re having work done on your house and using licensed, insured contractors, make sure you’re using people who’ve actually pulled the proper permits. Also, never write that final check until you’ve been provided with evidence that those permits have been closed out.

If you’re looking to buy or sell a home or need help finding out if you have any open permits on your home, feel free to give us a call. We’d be happy to help, and we look forward to seeing you next time!