patrick.net

Hi,

I drove by and checked out the exterior of this house yesterday:

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Oakland/741-61st-St-94609/home/530877

The photos on redfin "happen" to be taken before the rain started, and there are now huge blue tarps covering the roof. While walking the perimeter I ran into a RE who was showing the house to a client. I asked her about the inside and she said it was in need of real work, and that the previous owners had added an additional room and bathroom but had not gotten permits. Backyard was huge, but all concrete, that included a car port. Home is bank owned, and went pending in Nov, but it fell through.

My questions:

1. I'm concerned with the additions to the house that were not done with a permit. Assuming that the work was done properly and it was up to code, what actions would I need to take if any? Is it simply a matter of paying a fine, or paying to have someone come out and officially record the additions?

2. If the work is poor quality and not up to code, I'm imagining that this will be a huge amount of headache and cost, what would I be looking at in this situation.

3. Is there anyway to see what the price was when it went pending in Nov?

4. I consider this to be the mid/low end in terms of pricing. I believe prices will fall in the mid to high market for a while to come, but these price points don't have much drop left in them. Any thoughts on this price bracket in the east bay?

Thanks for reading.