5-Unit vs. 4-Unit Financing Options

[Max Pagani]

Hello BP Community,

Currently, I have a 5-unit property under contract in Willimantic, CT. The fifth unit is unfinished (and unlivable) at the moment. The seller's agent kept this fifth unit unfinished in order to be able to list the property on the MLS (the agent was the seller's son and wanted the listing).

My question is, am I able to go to a bank / other institution and say that this is a four-unit property because the fifth unit is currently unfinished? At the moment, my primary option is a 20-year 5/1 ARM at 4.75%, but with residential lending I may be able to obtain longer term and better rates.

Please let me know if anything is unclear.

Thanks for the help,

Max Pagani