Building Small-Multi Family (2 to 4 units)

[John Lyszczyk]

I am currently studying for my Builder's License here in Michigan and I am wondering if anyone on here has experience in building small-multi family apartments? There is a shortage of attainable homes and housing options for certain income levels. I am wondering where I should start. I know multi-family building is a general topic, so to narrow the scope of the conversation the areas of main concern are...

-Financing (Who is the best option for financing? Credit Unions, local banks, etc.) What experiences have you had?

-Zoning: I am very familiar with how zoning works and who to talk to regarding zoning in my area. Has anyone ever changed zoning of a property to allow small mutli-family building? I've noticed some zoning areas specify the number of units that are permitted to be built. The zoning boards I would be dealing are small townships and not massive cities. 

If you have any insights or experiences in these areas I'd love to hear from you! Thank you in advance!

[Greg Dickerson]

Originally posted by @John Lyszczyk:

I am currently studying for my Builder's License here in Michigan and I am wondering if anyone on here has experience in building small-multi family apartments? There is a shortage of attainable homes and housing options for certain income levels. I am wondering where I should start. I know multi-family building is a general topic, so to narrow the scope of the conversation the areas of main concern are...

-Financing (Who is the best option for financing? Credit Unions, local banks, etc.) What experiences have you had?

-Zoning: I am very familiar with how zoning works and who to talk to regarding zoning in my area. Has anyone ever changed zoning of a property to allow small mutli-family building? I've noticed some zoning areas specify the number of units that are permitted to be built. The zoning boards I would be dealing are small townships and not massive cities. 

If you have any insights or experiences in these areas I'd love to hear from you! Thank you in advance!

New construction can be a great strategy. First step is to fully educate yourself on the market and the building business. It’s a huge learning curve and unless you have serious experience in constitution and are tapped into the right pool of subs you will cost yourself more time  and money than hiring a GC turnkey.

As for lending 2-4 units are not multifamily they are residential duplex, triplex and quads so you financing options will be with local and regional banks. You will need 20-30% down right now as well as solid financials.