Should I walk? Flipped hillside house, looks like nothing was permitted, foundation issues (3 days left on my inspection contingency)
First-time buyer, this would be my primary residence. Hoping for some honest gut-checks before I remove contingencies.
**House**: \~1920s home on a hillside in San Pedro (LA). Recently flipped. Genuinely amazing views and a great layout, and the area is on the upswing (the new West Harbor waterfront development). Under contract at $906k (50k over asking). Inspection contingency ends in 3 days.
**What the inspection turned up (\~60 line items total):**
• Appears little to nothing was permitted for the last year or two of flip work = a new bathroom (plumbing + electrical), a washer/dryer added off the kitchen, and a basement that needs foundation updates.
• Structural / hillside: a major foundation crack (inspector explicitly deferred to a structural engineer), an undercut footing (soil eroded from under the foundation), an unsecured foundation post, and a recommended seismic retrofit (on a hill that presumably moves a little over time.)
• Two items flagged as health/safety deficiencies: an active plumbing leak and exposed wiring.
• Plus: a Sylvania electrical panel, a heat pump that didn’t produce heat during the inspection, and apparent fire damage in the attic.
My plan: live in it; occasionally whole-home Airbnb it when I travel; maybe build a garage + ADU in back years down the road once I’ve saved up. (The basement can’t be a rental; not liveable.)
What’s keeping me up:
1. If basically the whole house is unpermitted, am I stuck? Future resale hit, and I’ve read that pulling any permit later can trigger legalizing everything / opening walls and potentially major construction.
2. Hillside + a major foundation crack… is that a hard walk, or manageable if a structural engineer signs off?
My actual questions for you all:
• For a house that’s essentially whole-house-unpermitted, what’s a reasonable credit or price reduction to ask the seller for?
• Anyone legalized this much unpermitted work retroactively with LADBS + what did it actually cost and how painful was it?
• Is it worth extending the inspection contingency to get a structural engineer + a permit expediter out before I decide? (Neither can realistically finish in 3 days.)
• Given the location upside… does this ever pencil, or should I run?
Not looking for validation either way, just tell me if I’m about to buy a money pit. Thanks.