Cornerstone Project - II

I'm continuing my Cornerstone Project basement suite development series. Please read the first post here.
In order to get funding for the Cornerstone Project you have to provide a series of documents. Most are relatively easy to get together but timing is crucial especially with the permit.

What you need:
1. Two itemized estimates of the total construction cost of the proposed suite - easy enough it would seem. If you have contractors you trust and use regularly have them come by and took a look. We actually had 8 contractors come through to get 2 quotes that ranged by about $15k. Make sure you get a lot of estimates so you have a good idea of what's out there and what is inline for costs.

2. Copy of Development Permit and Building Permit/ Electrical Permit - This one takes A LONG time. Think 4 to 8 weeks. If you think you'll get the suite up and be rented withing 6 weeks it's ambitious. The permit requires a lot of documents of it's own so prepare well, reserve a lot of time and plan for 2-month turnover before you can even start renos.

A) Development Permit and Building Permit for the City of Edmonton requirements:
i. Pictures from all angles of the property
ii. The Real Property Report - it must show 3 parking spots NOT including street parking (I know)
iii. A drawing of the space to be renovated including

-size and uses of all rooms
-locations of doorways
-floor to ceiling height
-direction the doors open
-window size and locations
-location of smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors in main suite, basement suite, furnace room and top of exit stairwell
-plumbing and electrical changes
-construction materials

There must also be a true to scale drawing of the main floor above the suite. Our contractor did a basic drawing and I finished off all the details. I'm pretty artistically challenged and my walls didn't line up but as long as you "do your best" they will accept it ~ within reason of course.

The permit cost a total of $724.88 $260 of that is basic fee for Secondary Suite built within and Existing House and the rest depends on the cost of your renos.

Electrical Permit - generally the contractor pulls this.

3. Copy of land title or a valid offer to purchase to confirm the ownership of the property - an accepted offer is great or if you've owned the property for a while get title from the Registry office.

4. Copy of a current property tax notice/assessment - we just squeaked by on this as the vendors had not paid any taxes for 2011. Taxes are due by June 30 of the tax year and our closing date was June 24th. We went down to city hall and paid the arrears of course funds were credited to us in the sale. Make sure your taxes are up to date.

5. Confirmation of project financing - simply a bank statement showing you have the funds.

If you take away anything from this it's give yourself enough time to get the permit.

My Sweet Suite deal - Cornerstones

living room of basement suite

For the past 2 years the City of Edmonton has offered a program to help improve the amount of affordable housing in Edmonton. The Cornerstone Project offers funding, up to 75% of $32,000 to be exact, to bring an existing suite to code or build a new basement or garden suite.

At first the program was a little lame. No funding for rentals houses had to be owner occupied and rent had to be below market average. Recently with a lot of money not going anywhere Edmonton has revised the program. Rentals are ok with market rent to a tenant with less than average income ie student etc.

So with over $6 million looking for suites to renovate we've decided to take the plunge and I'm going to chronicle the process for you here.

I've bought over 50 house but I've never bought a home. Unbelievable right? We bought our first home this month and decided to use the Cornerstone to put a suite in the basement. Even though we'll live here we'll improve the market value and make it a great rental for when we move onto our next place.

Step 1: The Inspection

So our first step was to call Cornerstones and book a inspection. A fire inspector and building inspector came out, went over the whole basement inside and out and made reports on the work that had to be done.

Including:

1. Drywall all ceilings and walls even in storage areas and under stairs
2. Ensure windows in bedrooms meet egress requirements. They also must not require special knowledge to open
3. Put hard-wired smoke alarms in suite, common areas and on the main floor
4. There should be a fan in the bathroom and proper venting in kitchen
5. Separate entrance must have easy access
6. Ceilings must be 96 inches minimum

The report also called for inspections of the hot water tank and that the furnace had property venting.

The next step PERMITS.