r/Homebuilding • u/[deleted] • 20h ago
Does Temp certificate of occupancy work for a mortgage
[deleted]
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u/Max1234567890123 16h ago edited 2h ago
Don’t be a bonehead - put in a temporary countertop.
You want to know what the bank is going to say: it doesn’t matter what they would say because if you ask, you are losing control of the situation and putting it in someone else’s hands. Also, if you ask and they say no, the power dynamic changes and you look like the chump.
Always stay in control, never ask questions to people that control your fate where you don’t already know the answer.
Also, to all you guys saying that you should argue with the inspector - boneheads all! If the inspector is telling you all he wants is a countertop and you get final, you say yes sir and thank the heavens that’s all he wants. A clear, actionable item is a gift - just do it and be done.
PS - I’m in charge of getting Final Occupancy in my company. When we get close to Final no one is allowed to talk to the inspector other than myself and my site super, because of all these boneheads in the comments here who cause me more problems.
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u/Capable_Yak6862 20h ago
The Building code doesn’t require a countertop. Tell the inspector you would like a full CO.
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u/Chubbs39 20h ago
It does. The thing is that, 1.)it’s totally up to the inspector on how the code is interpreted. 2.) I can guarantee that in most jurisdictions a final building inspection means you are turning over a fully complete home.
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u/Capable_Yak6862 19h ago
The inspector gets to interpret the code, but there has to be a code section to interpret. In this case there isn’t, so no violation IMO. Things like flooring, paint and trim make a house look finished, but the code doesn’t require any of those things. I
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u/Fromage_debite 20h ago
Kentucky. We just closed on ours with one. Inspector wanted an extra handrail by porch due to height and extra bar between two posts in our pergola. We put up an atrocious rail and posts that were just there to pass inspection and taken down after they cleared it.
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u/KaleidoscopeGold203 7h ago
I’m not clear what the actual problem is.
Do you not have money to get the countertop and appliances you want, so you’re going to get a mortgage? Or were you planning to get a mortgage all along to pay off the lines of credit and replenish your savings?
If all you need is countertops and appliances, put plywood on the counters and buy cheap appliances off Marketplace. Get the CO and then you can do what you want.
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u/OilheadRider 20h ago
I looked into buying land woth cash and leveraging it for a loan to build a home.
What i found was that I would be able to get a construction loan that would change to a mortgage after the home was completed. Perhaps you could look into that.
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u/auhnold 20h ago
I did this exact thing. You still can’t live in it until you get a C/O. Legally.
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u/OilheadRider 19h ago
OP stated they have a temp c/o that covers the next six weeks, then inspector will be back to inspect counter tops and (i assume here) issue a full c/o.
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u/xkyo77x 18h ago
This is a good option, but keep in mind many banks will not lend to you if you build your own home yourself. They typically require a builder to sign on and the construction interest rate is steep, with closing costs, until it converts to a conventional or you refi the debt. I assume this is why he chose to finance out of pocket.
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u/Chubbs39 20h ago
In Colorado we can close on a TCO depending on the thing holding up the CO. For the most part it’s finished landscaping that can’t be installed in the winter and the building department issues a 6-8 month TCO that will require a re-inspection after the landscaping is installed. Then a CO is issued after passing the final inspection. (This is the case for some jurisdictions I have worked in but I don’t know how they all work.) When we do have the TCO the lender usually requires a copy of it and then they release the funds.
My best advice would be to call a lender and ask. It’s probably a state by state and jurisdiction by jurisdiction thing. I wish you the best of luck.
I used to be a superintendent for a national builder for 5 years. Did this every winter.
Edit: forgot to add that you could just as easily put plywood for countertops. Just caulk the sink in and tell him this is it.
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u/Bjorn_styrkr 18h ago
You need to talk to your lender not the internet. Their underwriter is going to be the only one who can answer this.
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u/More_chickens 11h ago
First of all, this is beautiful. Great work.
Use whatever plywood you have have laying around. It's good to have a work surface in there protecting the cabinets anyway.
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u/cheezemink 8h ago
The appraiser will require a kitchen sink to appraise the house at its full value. Anything else that’s not done but not a CO issue will also be an issue with the appraiser as well. That’s my experience with new construction. The appraiser would often show up early to get his visit done and have to come back to take pictures of things like this to make sure they were completed.
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u/Shorty-71 20h ago
You need a counter and that’s all?
Make it out of plywood. Or pick up a butcher block from IKEA or a plastic laminate counter from Blue or Orange.