Buying a 3 Family in Union City - no green card

[Kait O.]

I'm in contract to buy a 3-family in Union City in for $550k - live in one unit and rent the other two out. It's an estate sale, so it will be sold in as is condition. I just got out of attorney review and am looking for a good inspector if anyone has recommendations of someone who's familiar with multi-fams in UC. 

However, want to also get advice as this is my first real estate purchase. Is getting a green card a major challenge in NJ? And also, has anyone gone through the process and found what the mos common inspection issues are? The house is 100 years old and the previous owner didn't have a green card or CO- so i'm concerned there may be a lot of problems. 

Also, the home currently has 1 illegal basement unit tenant that will be vacating as a condition of the sale. We have it in the contract that if he doesn't vacate, we can get out of the deal. Has anyone had experience with this and how did it work out for you?

[Ryan Goldfarb]

@Kait O. -- The green card inspection may be a little tough if it's never been conducted before. There are a number of requirements that they're pretty particular about:

• Hard-wired smokes in common areas
• Second means of egress for all units
• Self-closing door hinges
• Peep hole in each apartment entry door
• All units in good condition (walls, tile, etc. in good shape)
• Smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors as necessary
• Exit signs (I think)
• Adequate lighting in common areas

Those are just a few off the top of my head. They're fairly picky. Most things are not impossible to cure if you have the cash to knock it all out. Typically, the outcome is that they will provide you with a report outlining the required repairs, and then they will schedule a re-inspection.

Best of luck!