Buying a Multifamily zoned as a Single Family

[Justin Rogers]

After months of searching, I have found a property that finally makes sense to "house hack". The only problem is the house is zoned as a single family and they have added 2 units behind the house without zoning to multi family so several banks are unwilling to finance.

What options do I have here?

[Nik Moushon]

Short answer: Seller finance or try to have the owner get it re-zoned. 

Long answer: Sometimes MF is allowed in SF zones so check the city/county codes. It could be as simple as getting it re-appraised by the city so its taxes reflex MF. Or it could be as costly as re-zoning which isn't always guaranteed(and time consuming btw). Tread carefully though. Some cities will charge for back taxes or charge fines for building something against code. They could even require you to demolish the other units regardless of the fact you didnt build it. So even if you do get seller financing you could be forced to demolish the buildings. Do you homework on this one.