I am buying a house that's 2 stories. The tax records say that it's only 800 square feet. But that's only the main level. Why aren't they adding the 2nd story?
What, if any, are the requirements for the square footage to be included for the 2nd story....anyone know? I'm in Missouri, if that makes a difference...
2006-07-29 23:19:39 · 6 answers · asked by _0_ 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
Yes, the 2nd story does count.
Most likely what has happened is that the house was modified after it was built. If it was done inside the city limits, it was done without a building permit. If it was outside the city limits, building permits are normally not required in MO.
In either case, you need to have an engineering report done on the house before you purchase it to ensure that the work was done properly. From personal experience, there are a LOT of cowboys in MO that do extremely shoddy work. (I had to rip out the entire back wall of my house to repair shoddy work done by the pervious owner!)
If the property is inside the city limits, you should also demand that the seller get an after-the-fact building permit since YOU could be held liable for the work at some later time. In serious cases the city may require that the work be torn down, so this is NOT something to mess around with!!
Lastly, the property records will probably be updated based on the survey report from your purchase. Expect the property taxes to be MUCH higher than the seller's were!
2006-07-29 23:31:17 · answer #1 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If they added finished living space with heat, it should count.
On the other hand, what most likely happened is that the modifications were done without a permit in order to prevent a reassessment of the property (in other words, so their property taxes wouldn't go up). Alternatively, the reason the correct number of square feet is not reflected is because the alterations were not to building code. Building code sometimes gets a little over the top, yet the reason it's there is to prevent Bad Stuff from happening. Depending upon the state, and what really happened, if the building inspectors discover this issue, you could be looking at a major bill for bringing it up to code, or they could order you to demolish it, or they could just suddenly reasses you for twice as much property taxes and say pay the back taxes now.
Get this resolved. NOW, before the purchase is final.
2006-07-30 02:54:30 · answer #2 · answered by Searchlight Crusade 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They might be referring to the house footprint. The footprint is the space on the land occupied by the whole house... but if you are talking about floor area.. upstairs should be included. Well taxes i think is computed based on the area... lesser area lesser tax.. .what would you prefer?
2006-07-29 23:33:34 · answer #3 · answered by "Cleaner" 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If it has heat and air and is a finished living space IE. not an attic and if the upstairs was an add on depending on your state you must have a building permit to have it legally counted.
2006-07-29 23:29:34 · answer #4 · answered by cc_peacheyone 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's a great question
2016-08-08 07:34:07 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
thank you for the answers, greatly appreciated.
2016-08-23 03:09:15 · answer #6 · answered by susann 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋