All Forum Posts by: Alex Ericksen

@Janet Orgill I purchased a house near BYU back in April. My original plan was to add a kitchen in the basement and then rent it out as a duplex, although not a "legal" duplex. I know some of my friends in Salt Lake City do this without any problems. However I decided to research it more thoroughly since this home purchase was a big financial decision for me and I didn't want to make any incorrect assumptions that could affect my finances; long story short, through speaking with the city, researching (which I believe is the link that @Jeremiah Maughan has shared with you above), and also speaking with neighbors, the attitude seemed overall to be more on the strict/aggressive side than I expected. I even ran into someone else who was going through the process of having to sell a house they were renting out because of a problem that came up with the lease and it not being legal or something like that. So anyways; it's your decision obviously, and I don't disagree with you that there is a need. But for better or for worse the current climate seems to be a little more on the risky side, if you aren't following the City's currently outlined procedures to a T, than I expected. FYI. Hope that helps!

@Chad Davis Got it. That makes sense. Thanks, you too!

@Chad Davis

Thanks for sharing, that's super helpful to hear your firsthand experience. That's kind of what I've heard from a few different people, and honestly I think you're right. It changes the risk of the investment when there are extra risks like that from the City being a little more aggressive. 

I've continued moving forward with my deal, and I think what I'm going to do is move into the house and live there for the first year or so, then move and rent the whole thing out as one rental to a couple or family. It's pretty close to BYU, and has a little more square feet and rooms than most of the other homes in the neighborhood but is in a quiet family-type neighborhood that I think would be appealing to a young family hopefully. And I think I could probably rent it out for enough to cover the mortgage as well. And as far as I've seen, any house can be rented out to someone else without issues (right?). 

So I think that's the plan at this point. It obviously won't cash flow as much up front, but also won't require as much time or money up front (won't be adding the kitchen) and will be at more of a risk level I'm comfortable with. And if I can, I'd like to just buy and hold it for the long term so ideally there will be some appreciation of the property value and rental rates down the road. 

Thanks!

@Jeremiah, thanks for the quick and detailed reply. I really appreciate it, and that is really helpful. I will call the city this afternoon to clarify a few of those things. My original plan was to just roll with it either way, but again remembering back to how strict Provo parking was has made me a little more hesitant. So we'll see. 

Would you have an email for that person you spoke with you'd be able to share by chance? If not no worries. 

Thanks again

Greetings fellow BP friends. I have a few quick questions for any of you familiar with renting/landlording in Provo City, specifically relating to their rules on "accessory apartments." 

I went under contract this Saturday for a SFH near BYU in Provo and am in the due diligence phase. I will find out in the next few weeks (before closing) whether or not I will be attending BYU for their MBA program this fall, and if I am accepted I was planning on moving into this home and "house hacking," aka living in half while renting out the other half, for at least the two years that I'm there for the program. The home was recently remodeled upstairs but has an unfinished basement; however I have included this in my budget and plan to finish it by adding a kitchen and bathroom so that it would be rent-ready by Fall 2019. I have a few close friends that are investors with their own rentals and house-hacks here in Salt Lake County where I currently live, who have told me they've never gotten permits for remodels and rentals like that, and have never had any issues. I trusted their experience and proceeded with my offer and am happy that it was accepted.

However now that it has been accepted, I've been feeling a little extra paranoid about making any assumptions, as I went to BYU for part of my undergrad and have now been remembering how strict Provo City was with parking enforcement when it came to parking on Provo streets. So I figured I'd better do a little more homework digging into the fine print on all the rental rules, since neither my landlord friends nor myself have experience specifically in Provo yet and I'd really like to avoid making any expensive, incorrect assumptions.

I've found the following information from Provo City's website regarding "accessory apartments" which is the source for the rules so far as I can tell:

https://provo.municipal.codes/Code/14.30.010

https://provo.municipal.codes/Code/14.46

My questions:

1. How strictly does Provo City enforce this, and how do they enforce it? Do I need to worry about getting the "accessory apartment" approved/permitted ahead of time by the City, and/or my remodel plans for finishing the basement? (Or could it be worth just proceeding and risk dealing with any issues, should they arise, like my Salt Lake County landlord friends do?)

2. I don't think the house I'm under contract for has enough room to accommodate off-street parking for 4 vehicles, which the City code seems to indicate is required. It has a 1-car garage and a driveway, but I would think it would realistically fit 3 cars max, including the garage. And I believe it's only a single-wide driveway (only room for 1 car across rather than 2 (I'm in Salt Lake City so I haven't driven back to double check that since I first visited the property)). Is there a measurement anywhere indicating how they calculate that required amount of space? (EDIT: I think I found this measurement). Does this mean they require side-to-side space for 4 vehicles? or is front to back acceptable? If there ends up not being enough room for off-street parking for 4, should I expect the City to hold strictly to that and therefore not allow my accessory apartment? 

3. My original plan was to buy the house and finish the basement, house-hack while attending the MBA program, and then move out and rent it as a duplex after that. However after going through all the zoning rules as closely as I could this weekend, it looks like that will not be allowed as the property is zoned R1 (which seems to permits accessory apartments, but not using the house as an actual duplex). Am I interpreting that correctly? If that is the case, it's not necessarily a dealbreaker because I think the property may potentially still cash flow just as one rental (rather than a duplex) for a small family if I were to need to move sometime after the next two years. I've heard the City is strict on not allowing duplexes where they shouldn't be, so I probably wouldn't risk that.

Anything else I'd want to be aware of??? Like most of you, I don't like surprises so I'm trying to learn as much as I can about this situation before I'm married to it. Thank you for your help!