Skip to content
×
Try PRO Free Today!
BiggerPockets Pro offers you a comprehensive suite of tools and resources
Market and Deal Finder Tools
Deal Analysis Calculators
Property Management Software
Exclusive discounts to Home Depot, RentRedi, and more
$0
7 days free
$828/yr or $69/mo when billed monthly.
$390/yr or $32.5/mo when billed annually.
7 days free. Cancel anytime.
Already a Pro Member? Sign in here

Join Over 3 Million Real Estate Investors

Create a free BiggerPockets account to comment, participate, and connect with over 3 million real estate investors.
Use your real name
By signing up, you indicate that you agree to the BiggerPockets Terms & Conditions.
The community here is like my own little personal real estate army that I can depend upon to help me through ANY problems I come across.
Buying & Selling Real Estate
All Forum Categories
Followed Discussions
Followed Categories
Followed People
Followed Locations
Market News & Data
General Info
Real Estate Strategies
Landlording & Rental Properties
Real Estate Professionals
Financial, Tax, & Legal
Real Estate Classifieds
Reviews & Feedback

Updated over 9 years ago on . Most recent reply

User Stats

74
Posts
7
Votes
Robert Farris
  • Respiratory Therapist/Real Estate Investor
  • Monroe, MI
7
Votes |
74
Posts

City zoning question

Robert Farris
  • Respiratory Therapist/Real Estate Investor
  • Monroe, MI
Posted

There is a foreclosed tri-plex I was interested in buying and was talking with the bank to make the deal happen but I went to the City Building/Zoning dept. and was told me that they have rezoned that area to a single family area and that the tri-plex can no longer be used as a tri-plex.

They said the house was grand-fathered in and as long as the inspections were kept up that it would have been ok, but since the house was sitting in foreclosure for longer than 6 months with no inspections done, the house converted back to the newer SFH zoning rules.

So basically, the tri-plex is useless as a rental.

Has anyone dealt with this kind of issue before?

Is there anything I can do to change this? 

Most Popular Reply

User Stats

3,126
Posts
2,639
Votes
Matt Devincenzo
  • Investor
  • Clairemont, CA
2,639
Votes |
3,126
Posts
Matt Devincenzo
  • Investor
  • Clairemont, CA
Replied
Originally posted by @Robert Farris:

@Charlie Fitzgerald, thanks for commenting. I'll check back with the city and ask them about a social use permit.

What exactly is a social use permit?

 I believe that was supposed to say "special" not social. This situation is not uncommon especially in older parts of town where big homes were made into multiple units in the past.

I have some properties in a historic district that has the same 6 mo rule. There are no apartment or MFR zones in the district today. There are a few properties that have existing non-conforming uses like this and when they're unused they fall into two categories. The first is what the City mentioned, that you basically have to "restore" it to the SFR status. This works for homes that were split into separate units in the past.

The other is properties like a 10 unit apartment that was constructed in the 70s before the historic district established this rule. It was vacant for a year and should have lost it's zoning, but the only way to actually do that would be to demo the building and build 3 SFR on the underlying lots. This is beyond the City's powers and so the property basically maintains it's status unless it's destroyed.

You may want to look into it more, because while the City's standard answer is it lost its zoning that may not actually be the case. It might take some leg work to talk to someone that can make that decision, but it is a possibilty depending on the individual property's charactaristics.

Loading replies...