In our case, the installers submit permit online… Then we get a call from the city to get the inspector in - 4 weeks later. I suspect the dude will show up, take a look at the heater, say something “smart,” and give his ok. $130 bucks. Makes me mad.
We have to have our water heater permitted. It’s gas. Plumber (who’s also a gasfitter) installs it and submits permit. Inspector comes within a week. Our county loves to mandate every little thing.
Sounds like the city we are in. 
Can’t sneeze without a permit. Amazingly, we can reside the house without a permit with an in-kind material, and Hardi is equivalent to wood. I’ll take that!
We just did our first major drywall job and did not kill each other!
Both times we got busted were because the gas company had to go into the basement for something (probably meter replacements, but I don’t remember) and they ratted us out. Apparently they are on the lookout for this.
I don’t think we were penalized, it was just a pain to have to do it.
First, how does a Gas Co employee have any idea whether you have a permit? Is some tag hanging on the water heater or something??? Oh well
I think it’s horrible that water heater gets installed and then the homeowner has to take time off from work and stand around waiting for an inspector 4 weeks later. There are a lot of complex plumbing codes for gas water heaters that involve pressure release, backdraft, exhaust vents, etc. but a licensed plumber knows what has to get done
Flip # 7
I hate to admit…kind of stalked the Open House at the bee hive house today while out running errands. I didn’t see any significant traffic coming or going into Open House. One couple with young children but I doubt they have the stomach to renovate.
Not on a lake. Which means… the price wasn’t so great. Anything on salt water is absurdly expensive. 
But it would have been a lot more IMO, and completely out of our range, if the interior wasn’t a museum of bad 70’s decorating.
I was told that just to get permission to install a dock takes about 18 months and costs about $20K in engineering fees, permit fees, and lawyer fees. It’s pretty sad that you need a lawyer to put in a dock, but the rules are crazy, byzantine, and somewhat arbitrary, and there’s a lot of paperwork involved that only a lawyer can love. Then you get to spend $300/sq ft to build it.
I don’t really get why it is so expensive to build, there’s a couple dozen pilings which probably aren’t cheap, but the rest is just lumber. :-?
If your google-foo is good enough, I bet you can find it. When the P+S is signed, I’ll give it to anyone who is that interested, I’m not that worried about it. Or PM me if you think you found it. 
Not sure what you mean by “view photo”, where would that be taken from? There’s already a picture from the deck, and one from the end of the dock looking towards the ocean.
The inspection is next Friday, I’ll take a lot more photos. Sorry for the thread hijack, I won’t post too much. Maybe. :-"
Yes, the permit is supposed to be left by the water heater. If the heater looks new, they will check on it.
Oh, and after you spend your $20K to try to get permission to install the dock, there is no guarantee you will get it. What a system.
What a racket!
Is this going to be your retirement palace? 
“I hate to admit…kind of stalked the Open House at the bee hive house today while out running errands. I didn’t see any significant traffic coming or going into Open House. One couple with young children but I doubt they have the stomach to renovate.”
Do young couples never buy a home that needs renovation and do it over many years, not months?
My house (1956 ranch) was a fixer but we only did cosmetic stuff the first 14 years we lived in it because that was all that we couid afford. Since then we’ve done a complete remodel but in phases. After 26 years we are now on Phase 5 - the bathrooms. This is the last phase.
I blame HGTV for making young couples think they must move into a picture perfect home or renovate completely right away. It’s craziness.
@notrichenough, congrats on the house!!! That hideous carpet was what my house had in every room when we moved in. Fortunately for us there were beautiful hardwoods underneath.
cb, I think it’s great for you that very few people went to the open house. I’m hopeful this is the next one for you! If you haven’t done it already, get those investors lined up!
Coralbrook, they smack big stickers on our equipment to identify them as being permitted. Went through this with the HVAC last year, and we are about to change our our 24 yo hot water heater before it dies and floods on us, so will get to do it again.
I don’t know if HGTV is to blame, but it is definitely true that people are less willing to DIY any more. Are there even any more how-to shows on any more?
On the other hand, sellers be crazy too. DW had a half-million dollar deal blow up because the sellers wouldn’t leave the curtains.
Thanks! We have to get through the inspection and the sellers have to put in a new septic system, so there is still a long way to go. Unfortunately for us, there are no hardwood floors under that carpet, so that will be a big expense. And I’ve already been informed that that carpet will be immediately removed on day 1, even if we have to live with the plywood for a while.
“I don’t know if HGTV is to blame, but it is definitely true that people are less willing to DIY any more. Are there even any more how-to shows on any more?”
We weren’t DIYers - the only thing we did in the beginning was paint, rip out the carpet and little things like put new handles on cabinets and peel & stick tile to cover up the hideous linoleum on kitchen floor. It took us 16 years to be able to afford to hire contractor to do all the work needed. We’ve now done everything from roof to basement and everything in between, including the outside of house, over the last 10 years.
“And I’ve already been informed that that carpet will be immediately removed on day 1, even if we have to live with the plywood for a while.”
No kidding. Plywood is more sanitary than that carpet.
I told Mr. that we are not cooking on the junk stovetop and we are not prepping food on the - gasp! - limestone countertops. And the carpets in the master bed have to go (thank you Costco for agreeing to do a “small job” of only 1000 sft!).
I bought a hideous 1950 house in the exact location I wanted to be. I was 8 1/2 months pregnant, but it didn’t stop us.
H and I were weekend warriors for many years in the house. First thing out… orange shag carpet. We literally lived with plywood sub floors for years until I could afford new flooring because there were too many other priorities.
I think one of the key issues is that buyers now have a ton of ‘home inspections’ before they buy a house. I don’t think home inspections occurred 20 to 30 years ago when we were all buying our first house. These home inspections point out all kinds of things that are ‘scary’ to young buyers. For example, there are 2 pages of ‘trip hazards’ if there is any crack or settling on any path or the driveway. In my case… ignorance was just fine.
The reason I suspect that the couple with young children won’t buy that house is because, almost for a certainty, couples with really young children just cannot see themselves working day jobs and getting all the renovations done with newborns and toddlers under foot. So, all they can see is dollar signs trying to hire someone to do all the work.
Flip #7
There is another Open House today but Open Houses in our neighborhood are rarely advertised in the Realtor MLS system, agents just stick out signs. So, they are just getting traffic that is driving around the neighborhood and a lot of neighbors. Some agents put their Open Houses in Zillow. Older traditional agents might put an ad in the newspaper.
Interesting. Good to know if we were to relocate to SD!
Here, all opens are in the MLS. I have no idea who even looks at Zillow any longer. I see people on my buses looking at the traditional RE firms’ sites (Windermere, JLScott, etc.) and Redfin.
@BunsenBurner , H and I did new drywall in a goodly part of our first house, a shack in a good location. We were the classic weekend warriors. Thank doG my father was willing to help us, because he was the classic engineer who could build anything. He drew up the plans, and did the skilled carpentry, new footings, etc. He told us what to do, and we followed his instructions, for the most part.
Anyway, the drywall nearly killed me. NOTHING in that place was level, or on a 16" center. It was incredibly difficult to cut the pieces, since most of them sloped on at least 2 sides. The main room had a sloping ceiling that went up quite high. We thought we would minimize taping and mudding by getting 12’ pieces of drywall for the ceiling. OMG, they were SO HEAVY!! We were using enormous “deadmen.” e had to work on step ladders. The first piece we put up looked like it had been the backdrop of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, it had so many holes. =)) I discovered that I was effectively allergic to the dust from the sanding after the mudding. We worked all weekend, and I went to work on Monday morning with a screaming sinus headache. I vowed that I would never, ever, drywall again.
It is a miracle that our young marriage survived that project. (Don’t get me started on the roofing…)