Pricing a Shared-Driveway Home With an Unpermitted Conversion
A licensee is taking a listing on a 1,800-square-foot ranch. The seller converted a 400-square-foot attached garage into a finished room without a permit and wants the listing to say 2,200 square feet. The county auditor still shows 1,800 square feet. A recorded easement gives the neighbor across the shared driveway the right to use the driveway for access and to share maintenance costs. The seller and her brother own the property as tenants in common; she wants to sell now, but he refuses to sign anything. The seller points to an online estimate of $315,000 and says, "Just list it there; buyers don't care about permits." A buyer's agent asks about the permit and the driveway.
1. How should the licensee handle the square footage and the list price?
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The licensee should not advertise 2,200 square feet as permitted above-grade living area merely because the garage was finished. Unless the conversion was permitted and meets the applicable measuring standard, the safer course is to market the home at the auditor's 1,800 square feet and describe the extra room as finished space, with disclosure that it was converted without a permit. Pricing should use a sales-comparison analysis of permitted square footage and adjust for the extra finished area at a modest contributory value, not at full GLA value. An online estimate is not an appraisal and does not account for the permit issue or the shared driveway. The licensee should recommend an appraisal or broker price opinion and explain that overstating square footage can create misrepresentation and financing problems.
2. What must be disclosed about the driveway easement and the unpermitted conversion?
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Both are material facts. The recorded driveway easement runs with the land, affects access and maintenance obligations, and should be disclosed to buyers and shown in the title commitment. The unpermitted garage conversion affects legal use, insurance, taxes, and value, so it should be disclosed in writing and in the seller's property disclosure. The licensee should not soften the facts or wait for the buyer to discover them. The buyer should be advised to verify permits and zoning with the local building department and to review the easement language with counsel. If the conversion was done without permits, a buyer may need to cure it, and financing or insurance could be affected.
3. The brother refuses to sign the listing. Can the licensee take the listing from the sister alone and market the entire property?
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No. Tenants in common each own an undivided fractional interest, but neither co-tenant can convey the whole property without the other's authority. The sister can list and sell only her fractional interest unless she has a power of attorney or court authority. Marketing the entire property with only one signature would misrepresent the scope of the agency and could cloud the transaction. The licensee should explain the ownership problem, ask whether the brother will agree to a buyout or sale, and suggest that the siblings consult counsel about a partition action if they cannot agree. Any listing agreement for the whole property needs all owners' signatures, and the licensee should not accept a listing that cannot be performed as advertised.