How Do You Check a Home's Permit History Before Buying in Estero?

Ask for the permit record on the address from two places. The Village of Estero holds the record for work permitted since it took over building services, and Lee County holds the record for work permitted before 2016, because Lee County Community Development handled building and permitting for the Village until then. Read both, line them up against the listing and the seller's disclosures, and ask about anything that does not match while you are still inside your inspection period.

I am Kris Asquith, Broker Associate at Premiere Plus Realty, and I help buyers and sellers in Estero and eight other Southwest Florida markets. A permit record is one of the few places where a home's story is written down by someone other than the seller, so it is worth the time to read it before you commit.

Because the Village of Estero is a young municipality. It incorporated in 2014, and for its first stretch Lee County kept providing building and permitting services inside the Village. The Village's own website says Lee County Community Development handled that work until 2016, and it sends anyone looking for planning, permitting or building records on projects from before 2016 to Lee County's public records office.

In practice that means a home's history can be split. A house built in the early 2000s may have its original construction permits, and perhaps a pool or an early roof, on the Lee County side, and a newer roof, an air conditioning changeout or a storm repair on the Village side. If you only check one office, you can miss half the story and conclude something was never permitted when it was simply filed somewhere else.

It lists the work someone applied to do on the property, when each permit was issued, which inspections were passed, and whether the permit was closed out with a final inspection. Read with a buyer's eye, it answers practical questions:

• When was the roof really replaced? My article on what to check about the roof before buying in Estero explains why that date matters so much for insurance.
• Was the air conditioning, the water heater or the electrical panel replaced under a permit?
• Was the pool, the screen enclosure or the lanai permitted? My article on checking the pool and screen enclosure on an Estero home covers that part of the house.
• Were storm repairs done under permits that passed final inspection?

A record that matches the listing remarks and the disclosures is reassuring. A record that is thinner than the house in front of you is a reason to ask more questions.

Four kinds. An open permit, where work was permitted but never passed its final inspection. An expired permit, which is the same problem after the deadline has run out. Unpermitted work, such as a lanai enclosed into living space, a garage turned into a room, or a kitchen rebuilt with nothing on file. And work that was permitted but does not match what is actually there.

After Hurricane Ian in 2022, many homes across Lee County had roofs, drywall, flooring or other work repaired. The permit record is where you find out whether a repair the seller mentions was permitted and signed off. If it was not, the responsibility for sorting it out generally stays with the property, which means it becomes the next owner's problem after closing.

Usually not. A title search looks at recorded documents such as deeds, mortgages, liens and judgments, and an open permit is generally not one of those. That is why a separate municipal lien search is commonly ordered on Florida purchases. It looks for open or expired permits, code enforcement cases and unpaid charges owed to the local government. The Village of Estero takes property lien requests through its Clerk's office, and your title company will know how to order one.

Ask your title company early whether a municipal lien search is part of your closing or has to be ordered separately, and ask that the results reach you before your inspection period ends. In a community with an association, the separate HOA estoppel certificate shows what is owed to the association, which is a different question from what the Village or the county has on file.

Because communities in the federal flood insurance program apply what is called the substantial improvement and substantial damage rule. When the cost of repairs or improvements reaches roughly half the value of the structure, the building may have to be brought up to current flood elevation standards. A home that was heavily rebuilt without permits may have skipped that review entirely, which can cause trouble later with insurance or with any permit you apply for yourself.

If the record shows large repairs, or the house looks far newer inside than the permits suggest, ask the Village's building staff how the rule applied to that address, and talk to an insurance agent who writes flood coverage here. My article on checking a home's insurance claims history in Estero explains how to line the claims record up against the permits by date.

If you are buying, check before you write an offer on a home you are serious about, and again once you are under contract, inside the inspection period. That is the window in which you can still ask the seller to close out an open permit, negotiate a credit, or walk away under the terms of your contract. Give the record to your inspector too, so they know which work to look at closely. My article on what a home inspection covers in Estero explains what the inspector will see, and my step-by-step home buying process shows where the inspection period falls.

If you are selling, pull your own record before you list, from both offices if the home is old enough. Closing out an old permit can take time, especially if an inspector has to come back out, and it is far easier to do on your own schedule than under a buyer's deadline. My page on buying a home in Estero covers the wider picture, and I am glad to go through the record on a specific home with you. Get in touch or call (239) 300-1427.

This article is a general overview and is not legal, insurance or construction advice about any particular property. Confirm the specifics with the Village of Estero, Lee County, your home inspector, your title company and a real estate attorney.