Rezoning in CT from a 2 family to a 3? 3 to 4?

[Michael Cavicchi]

Hey guys how's it going? Long time no see here.  Anyway I haven't given up on my real estate investing but have still been researching more than ever and have slowly worked my way into realizing multi family is a way better long term investment.  

So I've been on the lookout for a multi lately mostly in the Manchester CT area and I realize there are obviously way more duplexes for sale than 3/4 family houses.  I do need a place to live so the numbers would be much more favorable to have a 3/4 where I can live in one and rent out the others.  

I know it's going to vary from town to town and I'm not even sure maybe I shouldn't just be asking this in the CT forum but how hard is it to say put an apartment above a garage or something along those lines?  If the property meets the zoning requirements per the town rules for that type of property will it generally go pretty smooth? Or will the zoning board fight it tooth and nail?

[James Nazario]

I just went through researching something similar where I invested in Waterbury, CT- What I did first was look up the zoning for my property and the corresponding zoning laws at my cities website. 

After that, I gathered all information and came up with questions where I then made an appointment to talk to someone in the zoning apartment in person. 

From my perspective, that meeting was very valuable and taught me a lot. I will say this, trying to re-zone a property or change it's use can be very difficult to achieve, so I would not purchase anything with the assumption that it is possible or even cost effective. 

Good luck!

-James