Yup, it is also quite possible that we might have to get some renovations done before she moves in too.Yep … the term is “grandfathered” the property is grandfathered and isn’t required to meet current code for everything from fire protection(sprinklers & material types) to access (step heights, ADA widths(wide enough for wheelchairs)), electrical, interior, & water codes (ie grounded, ground fault, arc fault outlets & no longer using lead water pipes & lead paints.
Building codes land usages are often a significant shell/payoff game … but they get away with it because in addition it being all that it’s ALSO a safety & accessibility thing …in average size locations (cities less than 500,000 people) it is workable (for the most part) but in huge pop locations the codes and rules push costs to stratospheric levels.
These situations also apply to access to waters … for example we had a 2 million dollar house burn down but it had a private dock. The house was an ash pit but the dock was untouched by fire. The property & dock sold for 10 million or something because it’s now impossible to build a private dock on that body of water. So having a dock on that property is grandfathered in and just so long as X% (grandfathering rules vary from 1original 2x4 of lumber to high 80+%) of the original dock is in place the property has a legal private dock
These rules can apply to things like how close a building can be built to X … for example current new construction code might require a 150ft setback from the bank of a river but a grandfathered building is only 10ft from the riverbank so it’s not uncommon for the grandfathered building to be gutted to the grandfathering requirements and then built again from scratch while maintaining the grandfather qualification portion. So you end up with a new house 140ft closer to the river than the new house right next door.