All Forum Posts by: Daniel Loane

Thanks a lot @Alexander Yates! Appreciate your help and I'll try to reach out to the city to discuss whether changing zoning or use may be possible.

Hi there!

I found a property in Cleveland that has technically 2 units. It also has 2 meters but isn't zoned as a duplex. I was told that I can't submit a rental registration for 2 renters with the city.

I was hoping to rent out the units as a mid-term rental or one as a long-term rental and the other one as mid-term but I am not sure on how to best do so. In my understanding, it's possible to rent a house by the room so I thought it should be possible somehow with the same or a similar strategy. 

Does the Biggerpockets community have any advice or creative ideas?

Thanks!

I got my closing disclosures today for a house with closing date in a week from now and purchase price of $1M in California (LA county). It was the first time I inspected loan costs beyond the 'interest rate' in more detail and saw that there are a lot of Services I can shop for as a Buyer.

Given that closing is only a week away, what options do I have at this point? Can I still find other service providers to provide these services as long as I haven't signed closing disclosures?

Do any/which items seem expensive?

Thanks!

Hi all,

I bought a SFH that I want to hold long-term in the City of Cleveland. The house was build ~100 years ago and had been used as a primary residence for a few decades before I purchased it as is.

I have polished it up and found a good renter who would like to rent the property as soon as possible. I only discovered now that I may need a Certificate of Occupancy.

Do I need to apply for a Certificate of Occupancy (e.g. because I have a change in use if I want to rent the place out and it served as a primary residence before)?

What timeline am I looking into for the Certificate of Occupancy if everything goes well?

What would happen if I rent out the place in parallel to submitting my application for a new Certificate of Occupancy?

Thanks!

My partner and I are in escrow for a property that's part of the coastal area of Los Angeles and we are wondering about our best strategy for the detached garage. We are planning to live in the main structure ourselves.

The 2-car detached garage has a bathroom that was permitted in the 60s. The full structure is pretty much converted to living space already but the conversion was never permitted - it has drywall, electricity, flooring, separate entry door and a few windows. That was supposedly done decades ago based on the wear and tear on the floor. There is no insulation though and the electric garage door is still functional.

I am wondering about options to utilize this space - preferably as a short term rental but I would consider mid- and long-term as well. Any recommendations on the best path forward? My understanding is that I may have the following options but don't fully understand the process overhead and short-term implications yet.

(1) Convert to an ADU

(2) Convert to a guest house

(3) Convert to a 2-story ADU to create more living space

(4) Leave as is and rent out as long as I don't put a kitchen in there (?)

Would appreciate any advice!

Thanks!

Thank you @Rick Albert!

Hi all,

I am trying to buy a property before it's foreclosure auction scheduled in a few weeks. The lawful owner got into business with a crew of non-trustworthy people by assigning them Power Of Attorney. They have multiple open escrows and refused to return security deposits. The owner is very sick, has no internet and says he only learned about that 2 days ago.

The team working for the person with the POA rehabbed the property They remodeled the kitchen and fixed some other smaller ticket items like leaking toilets, etc. My offer would be dependent on the POA being canceled.

The owner says he hasn't seen any invoices for any of the work performed from them. In case the non-trustworthy people will file invoices, he'd pay them from the proceeds of the sale.

What's the risk on my end? I know that the big work item (kitchen rehab) started was finished in early September already (so >3 months ago) but the permit isn't closed out today. I am worried that these people put a mechanics lien on the property or find another way to get back at us in case we become the new owners. Beyond mechanics liens, what could be other risks we are facing being exposed to these people?

Thanks a lot for any help!

Hi Biggerpockets!

My wife and I are looking into a SFH in Los Angeles County (incorporated) and found a house we both really like. We are generally quite new to owning real estate but own 2 out-of-state rentals in Ohio.

We found out some concerning details about the property & feel like there is some friction with the seller (FSBO), so were hoping for ideas/pointers on what would be a smart strategy to proceed given where we are:

Details:

- The property has a NOD and a notice of trustee sale with a foreclosure auction scheduled in ~1 month

- The house was on and off the market since April. It only went pending once officially but there are multiple hints that more buyers were initiating escrow

- A lis pendens was put on the property a few weeks ago. We tried to get ahold of the people and found out that they were prospective buyers who told us that the seller wouldn't reimburse them their deposit (despite an inspection contingency). They mentioned that two other buyers supposedly have the same problem with the seller from what they heard

- They mentioned that there was one big issue with the property. They weren't willing to share it with us because they didn't want to limit the sellers chances to sell the house. They did recommend to hire a good agent and to get inspections, talk to the city. They mentioned talk to the city twice, so we felt like there maybe was a permit issue but the permits we found online didn't look like an issue. We brought a family friend to the house who used to work as a contractor - he didn't anything concerning during his inspection (but he's not an inspector).

- The seller has inspection reports but aren't willing to share them up until our offer is accepted. They claim they'd be willing to share them after

- On the side, seller is lying about many things like lockbox codes that would be automatically changing, many people having seen the property when we have various signs nobody was in there. 2 neighbors warned us to be careful with these sellers because they seem shady to them

Some questions crossing our minds:

- (1) What's a good way to get ahold of permits and 'talk to the city'? I tried calling with a code engineer of the city last week, will try again this week. Are code engineers the best path here or should we bring good attorneys into the loop?

- (2) We don't want to put down a deposit at this point given that the risk seems to be too high to not get it back. Are there any creative ideas how to avoid it? Just write an offer with 0$ deposit being honest about what we know? Get our inspections lined up prior to writing the offer with the risk that the money is gone and another offer is taken up earlier?

- (3) How difficult is it to push the foreclosure auction for the seller to a later time if they find a qualified buyer? 

- (4) Any other ideas?

Would appreciate any help! Thanks!