Unpermitted Additions in San Antonio: Selling a Home With Work That Never Got a Permit

If a previous owner enclosed the carport, dropped a bathroom into the garage, or finished out a 400-square-foot casita in the back yard without pulling a permit, you can still sell the house. What you cannot do is hide it. Section 5.008 of the Texas Property Code makes the Seller's Disclosure Notice (TREC OP-H) a sworn statement, and the question about additions, alterations, or repairs made without necessary permits is right there on the form. Answering "No" or "Unknown" when you actually know is how sellers end up in post-closing litigation.

The practical problem is that City of San Antonio Development Services doesn't chase homeowners for old, quiet unpermitted work — but buyers, appraisers, and lenders do. Here is how to handle it before the listing goes live on SABOR's MLS.

Figure out what was actually done without a permit

Start by pulling your own permit history. The City of San Antonio has a public portal (Development Services' online permit search) where you can look up every permit issued at your address by parcel. Bexar County unincorporated addresses and suburbs like Converse, Schertz, and Boerne each have their own permitting authority — check the right one.

Cross-reference three things:

• The BCAD property record card (bcad.org public search) — square footage, bedroom/bath count, year built, and any "additions" line item.
• The permit history from the city.
• What is physically there today.

Common gaps in San Antonio homes:

• Garage conversions — a 1970s Northwest Side ranch where the two-car garage is now a game room with drywall, HVAC, and flooring, but BCAD still lists it as garage square footage.
• Enclosed patios and Florida rooms — very common in 78216, 78230, 78240, added under a mansard roof in the 80s.
• Second-story or rear additions — an extra bedroom tacked onto a Southtown bungalow.
• Detached casitas / "she-sheds" with electrical runs from the main panel.
• Water heater, panel upgrades, or re-roofs done by a handyman with no mechanical or electrical permit pulled.

Understand what "unpermitted" actually costs you

Unpermitted work hurts a sale in four specific ways, and it helps to know which one you are dealing with.

Appraisal square footage

An FHA or VA appraiser will measure the house and note gross living area (GLA). If BCAD shows 1,650 sq ft and the appraiser measures 1,980 because a garage was converted, the appraiser can either include the added area as GLA (if it is finished to the same standard as the rest of the house and heated/cooled) or exclude it. Excluding 330 square feet on a comp-driven appraisal in Alamo Heights (78209) or Stone Oak (78258) can knock $40,000–$70,000 off the value. This is a bigger problem than most sellers expect.

Lender conditions

Conventional lenders sometimes accept unpermitted space if the appraiser signs off that it is workmanlike and safe. VA and FHA are stricter. On a JBSA-Randolph buyer using a VA loan, an unpermitted addition with exposed romex or a fuel-fired water heater in a bedroom closet will trigger a repair condition or a full decline.

Insurance

Carriers can deny claims tied to unpermitted work. A buyer who reads the disclosure and understands this may still proceed, but the buyer's insurance agent may quote higher, or refuse the risk entirely.

Post-closing lawsuit exposure

A buyer who discovers a converted garage two years later — because a plumber crawls under the slab and finds a drain that was never inspected — can sue for statutory and common-law fraud under Chapter 27 of the Business & Commerce Code and § 5.008. The disclosure form is the piece of paper that decides that case.

Your three real options before listing

Option 1: Permit it now (retroactive / "as-built" permit)

City of San Antonio does allow after-the-fact permits. You submit as-built drawings, pay the permit fee plus an investigation fee (typically double the standard permit), and open the walls where the inspector requires. Expect 4–10 weeks for anything involving electrical or structural, longer if a licensed engineer's letter is required for framing that is already covered.

This is worth it when:

• The added square footage is significant and you want it counted in appraisal GLA.
• The work is actually up to code and just paperwork is missing.
• You have time before listing.

This is a bad idea when the work is genuinely unsafe. Opening the wall on a bootleg electrical panel can lead the inspector to require a full re-wire.

Option 2: Disclose, price accordingly, and sell as-is

Check "Yes" on OP-H for unpermitted additions, describe what you know, and price against the smaller BCAD square footage rather than the actual footprint. Investors and cash buyers in 78207, 78210, 78228 buy these houses every week. You will get less money, but you close.

Option 3: Remove the unpermitted work

Rarely worth it, but occasionally rational — a shed with an illegal electrical run can be de-energized and disclosed as "outbuilding, no power." A converted garage can sometimes be un-converted if the door and header still exist.

How to fill out the disclosure correctly

The seller's disclosure has a section that asks about "room additions, structural modifications, or other alterations or repairs made without necessary permits." Answer honestly using what you know and what a reasonable search of your own records shows. "Unknown" is only defensible when you truly don't know — and you owned the house for 15 years while the sunroom got added, you know.

Specific language that works:

• "Garage converted to living space by prior owner circa 2004. No permit on file with City of San Antonio. HVAC extended from main system. Electrical done by unknown party."
• "Rear covered patio enclosed during seller's ownership in 2018. No permit pulled. Framing by licensed contractor; buyer to verify."

Attach photos or a diagram if the layout is confusing. Give the buyer enough to make a real decision. Vague disclosures are what get litigated.

Open permits are a different problem

An open permit — one that was pulled but never final-inspected — will show up in the title company's search and can hold up closing. Common culprits: a re-roof permit from a hail-claim job in 2016 that the roofer never closed out, or a water heater swap where the plumber pulled the permit and forgot the inspection.

Fix this before it becomes a Day 20 emergency:

1. Pull your own permit history now.
2. For each open permit, call Development Services and ask what is required to close it. Often it is a re-inspection request and a small fee.
3. If the contractor is out of business, you may need to hire a licensed contractor of the same trade to inspect and certify.

Stewart, Alamo, Independence, and the other Bexar County title companies will flag open permits in the commitment. A cooperative buyer will let you close them post-closing via escrow holdback. A skittish buyer will use it to terminate during the option period.

What most people get wrong

• Assuming BCAD square footage is the truth. BCAD's field data can be a decade old and often misses conversions. Do not price off it without measuring.
• Telling the agent verbally but not putting it on OP-H. The disclosure is the sworn document. A verbal heads-up to your listing agent protects nobody.
• Marketing the larger square footage in MLS while the disclosure says "unpermitted addition, unknown GLA." This is the fastest way to a TREC complaint against your agent and a fraud claim against you. Pick one number and note the caveat.
• Trusting a "my cousin is a contractor, he'll just permit it" plan. Retroactive permits require the actual homeowner and often engineered drawings. Budget real time and real money.
• Ignoring the electrical. Framing violations get corrected. Bootleg electrical kills deals and occasionally kills people. If there is knob-and-tube, aluminum branch wiring, or a subpanel wired without a permit, deal with it first.
• Waiting for the buyer's inspector to find it. The inspector will find it. Disclosing up front costs you 3% off the price. Getting caught costs you the deal plus legal fees.

When to bring in a pro

If the unpermitted work is structural, involves a second story, or touches the electrical service, hire a licensed Texas engineer or a general contractor familiar with San Antonio Development Services' as-built process before you list. For anything the disclosure won't cleanly handle — inherited property, prior owner's bootleg addition you were never told about, or ongoing code enforcement — talk to a Texas real estate attorney before signing OP-H.

When you are ready to list, HomeFinder lets Bexar County owners list FSBO for free at /list-your-home, or connect with a San Antonio agent at /agents who has actually handled retroactive permits and open-permit closings before. More seller resources are at /resources.