Finding homes with Added Value already built in

Many years ago i went in to the building department to apply for a permit. I was remodeling a property that had an addition done to it that hadn't been permitted. I was planning on getting the additional 1,100 sqaure feet permitted along with the rest of the remodel.

The gentleman helping me said something that caught my attention. He said "okay so you'll need to bring new plans to the tax assessors office". I told him i needed a minute and i'd come back in. I immediately drove to the tax assessors office trying to sniff out my hunch. I had a hunch that the building department and tax assessor weren't in communication. When i arrived at the tax assessors office i told them i had a home that had additional square footage and i wanted to update the tax record.

They looked at me like i was nuts but explained to me that every three months they updated the database with the correct square footage for properties. So i got plans drawn up and took them in to the tax assessor. Within 3 weeks i had notice that my property had been updated. So i purchased a home that was 1900 square feet and without doing any remodeling i increased the square footage to 3000 square feet.

Now came the ultimate test to see if the building department would know what had happened. I applied for my permit to remodel and when they came to the house they had no idea about additional square footage. So my rehab plan changed drastically and i ended up doing a new roof and painting along with putting in new appliances.

I ended up spending $45,000 less than i anticipated in rehab and sold the home for what i had originally planned with the additional square feet. Now i make it a habit to look for homes in certain districts that have additions that haven't been permitted.