Am I a blue monkey with a tie or is this Texas law insane?
Hello Friends,
I think I'm going mad. Right as soon as I cast off my habitual analysis paralysis, I've turned around to see it's bit me right square on my sitter. You see, I've recently found that proverbial needle in a haystack we are all frantically searching for. I just didn't look up for see it was the haystack that was rotten.
Rewind to early February and I've just closed on a gorgeous little fixer-upper in Seguin, TX (Near San Antonio) with a low down, owner-occupied loan. I purchased Chief Architect and meticulously measured every nook and cranny to render a perfectly digitized version of my new home and edited that copy to visualize what the home would become (opened up walls and added a bedroom).
Being my first BRRRR deal, I was eager to get my hands dirty in order to stay relatively on budget. Minor framing, drywall, painting, tilework and finishing were all in my wheelhouse, but I knew better than to gamble on the trades and called out subs to quote me on electrical, plumbing and HVAC. The problem came when it was time to be a good little investor and pull my permits.
After several calls back and forth with the city, I discover that Seguin has a homeowner's affidavit that states I can do the work myself! Woohoo! All I need is to do is sign the form (check), have an I.D. with the fixer-uppers address (check) and to register the home as my homestead (check?). I recalled the realtor saying something at closing about the homestead exemption, but what was it again? Next task was to call the county to get some answers; spoiler: the least helpful people on the planet.
*ring ring*
"Hello, Guadalupe county, how can I help you?"
"Hi there, I just bought a home in Seguin a couple weeks ago and wanted to inquire about the Homestead Exemption."
"We're not taking applications til October, is there anything else I can help you with?"
"I'm sorry, I'm a new homeowner. What do you mean application?"
"You have to apply for 2021 in October. You needed to be in the home by January 1st to get it for 2020."
"I purchased the home early February, is there a 10-day or 20-day window to get homesteaded for new purchases?"
"No sorry, is there anything else I can help you with?"
"So the city requires me to be homesteaded to work on my property myself and you're telling me I can't get homesteaded til 2021? So my options are paying a GC and contractors an exuberant amount of money or live in a fixer upper for 10 months before I can repair it myself?"
"You're going to have to call the city, we don't handle that."
*click*
So Biggerpockets family, am I a blue monkey who didn't do his due diligence or is this the silliest law?
So far my lurking has returned: Become my own GC or hire a "paper" contractor. Results have me between I'm-pretty-certain-a-"paper"-contractor-is-illegal and I've been listening to the ICC IBC 2018 code book for the last 5 hours on audio and I'm about to go mad.
Has anyone else run into this issue in Texas? How did you jump the hurdle?
P.S. Although Texas doesn't require a license for GC. Seguin requires you pass the Pearsonvue F12 - National Standard Building Contractor (B) Exam to get licensed.