All Forum Posts by: Daniel Schwartzberg

Hi Sam and Ryan - great to meet you both! And thanks very much to both of you for the responses.

@Samuel Eddinger - Great thought on asking the Zoning office itself for recommendations on attorneys; I'll be sure to do that. That's also reassuring to hear that your process applying for the SFR to duplex conversion wasn't overly complicated - here's hoping the same applies in this case! According to the zoning laws I've read and the people at the office I've spoken with, it seems like there shouldn't be much more needed after these drawings are submitted. I've had some good experience with a couple of contractors, and agree with you that price was a factor but certainly not the deciding one. Also, I appreciate the invitation to talk further - I'll be sure to send a DM if something comes up. I'm always interested in learning from the expertise of others, especially given that you're local to CT and know the state. Thanks again!

@Ryan Tessier - Nice to hear from a fellow Valley investor! Ansonia was on my list of possible areas to invest, too, as well as Shelton. I appreciate you mentioning the cost-prohibitive nature of actually hiring an architect for plans; that was my gut feeling, and it’s helpful to have you confirm it. I’ve heard of AutoCAD but agree that it would be a lot of legwork to become comfortable with the app just for the sake of a handful of drawings. For now, I’ve been using an iPad app called Morpholio Trace, which isn’t as full-featured as AutoCAD but covers the essentials just fine, and has some helpful features, like easily creating scaled grids and smart measuring tools. Hopefully, like Sam mentioned in his reply, as long as the Zoning officer is flexible with the drawings being measured sketches that I produced myself, the process can keep moving forward and I can get to finalizing the contractor details. If there’s someone you’ve worked with in the Valley area, I’d welcome any recs - thanks again for replying!

Hi everyone! I’ve got a few questions related to a real estate project I’m undertaking over the next few months, and thought there may be some people on the BP forums who’ve either had experience with similar projects, or might have general thoughts and recommendations they’d be willing to share for my situation. I’ve always appreciated the openness and helpfulness of the BP community, so thanks in advance to all who take the time to read this.

The basic information is that I own a two-family home in Derby, CT, which used to be a three-family (the top two floors were connected by a previous owner to make one two-floor unit). Right now, I’m househacking and living on the second floor of the property while renting out the bottom unit. I’d like to separate the top two floors to again make it a legal three family, so I can continue living on the second floor but rent the other two units to two tenants rather than one. My eventual plan is to move out of this property entirely (hopefully into another duplex to again househack), and rent out each floor of this property, since I believe that will provide more flexibility and overall cash flow from the place. I’ve already had several conversations with the Zoning and Building offices at Derby’s City Hall, and confirmed that three-family homes are a permitted special exception use in the zone where the property is located. They’ve informed me that after I submit some documents and diagrams of certain parts of the house, and scale drawings of my planned renovations, the conversion should be able to be approved. However, since this is the first time I’ve undertaken a project like this, I still have some questions that I was hoping the collective knowledge of BP users might be able to answer. Right now, the info I’m trying to source is:

• Names of zoning attorneys in the Fairfield/New Haven area who could help with communicating with the Building and Zoning offices and facilitating the process of the rezoning (I’m not positive that I’ll need to retain legal help at this point, but would still appreciate any suggestions in case it seems like the best option)

• Recommendations for contractors with experience and/or specializing in multifamily work (including GCs; electricians; HVAC companies; plumbers; etc). I’d love to be able to start work as quickly as possible once the approval itself has been finalized, so I’ve begun obtaining quotes, and would love to expand that list if anybody here has positive experiences with companies that might have missed my attention.

• Suggestions for diagramming software/applications, or best practices for drawing layout diagrams and housing plans. I’ve already made a scale diagram of the house floor plans by hand, but was hoping to use a diagramming application to make it look more professional, with more exact measurements/scaling.

I realize that’s a lot to toss out there, so whatever responses people might have to any of those bullet points would be really appreciated. And if there are other things that I’ve not thought about that others have run into during this kind of a process, I’d welcome any and all thoughts. Anyways, thanks again, and I appreciate whatever advice and info people are willing to share!

@Milo Samec Hi Milo - Thanks for the welcome! I appreciate you sharing that about the types of deals you’ve seen. From the research and properties I’ve been seeing (albeit from the lens of my limited experience with real estate), I agree with what you said; it seems like there are good options appearing every so often, so long as we’re tenacious and keep looking. Best of luck with finding something that fits what you’re looking for!

@Michael Asbury Hi Michael - sounds like we’re in the same boat! Thanks for responding and reaching out. I’ll go ahead and shoot you a direct message, and hopefully we can plan a time to connect; I think you’re right in terms of being able to work together and help each other out. I know I always appreciate having another perspective and opinion about things, so thanks for being willing to chat and share.

@Nicholas L. Hi Nicholas - thanks for the welcome and the insights! Like you mentioned, I’ve noticed the dearth of smaller (and relatively affordable) multi-families in the areas you mentioned, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed and eyes peeled on as many channels I can. (And if you think you may have any potential leads that you aren’t already planning to look into yourself, I’d appreciate anything you’re willing/able to share).

In terms of first-time buyer and owner-occupied programs, I’m casting a wide net and have found a few leads that seem promising (HDF and CHFA are the two I’ve read most about, along with a few that were recommended during the “Pre-Purchase” class I recently took through a Bridgeport-located real estate association). If you’ve got other programs that you think are worth a look, I’m all ears and would love to hear about them.

@Gaetano Ciambriello Hi Gaetano - thanks for your message, and I appreciate the offer to connect - that would be great. Would a PM be the best way to reach you? I’d love to hear about your experiences in Fairfield and pick your brain about Black Rock, if that’s all right. Thanks again!

@Temi Oshin Great recommendations, both in terms of the early arrival/departure and the other options. I’ll keep an eye out for virtual meetings, and your plug for looking through the forums is something I’ll certainly keep exploring. The articles and forums I’ve seen so far have contained great info that I’ve been utilizing in various ways. Appreciate the help!

@Temi Oshin Hi Temi - Thanks for your reply and the warm welcome! That’s great to know there are meetups in CT, thanks for the recommendation. Meeting other REIs in Connecticut and those with experience in and knowledge about the area is definitely high on my list of to-dos, and CTREIA sounds like a great place to do that. I do teach early in the day, and so I’m not usually able to be at events in person too late into the evening on weekdays so that I’m able to get up and commute the next day. Do you happen to know if the meetups also have a virtual option? If they do, I’m definitely interested in attending over Zoom or whatever other system the group might use. Thanks again for replying and sharing that info!

@Stephen Cornell - Hi Stephen - Thanks very much for your reply, and for the offer to send over your friend’s info. I’ve had a few conversations with one agent up to this point, but I’m definitely interested in meeting more people in CT real estate, so if you’re able to send over that contact information, I’d appreciate it. Thanks again!

Hi! I’m a new member of the BiggerPockets community and wanted to make a post to introduce myself, and to ask a couple of questions that I’m hoping the collective knowledge of the BP community might be able to help me with. I'm a relatively new resident of Connecticut, having moved here last year for a new teaching position. Since I'll be staying in the area for the foreseeable future, I’m currently researching options for purchasing a house hack in one of the southern areas of Connecticut. I teach in Westport, and the general area in which I’m looking to purchase is Fairfield County. Specifically, the areas about which I've done the most research in terms of multifamily properties are the Black Rock and North End neighborhoods of Bridgeport, and certain neighborhoods in Norwalk. My hope as of now is to purchase either a duplex or triplex, and to live in one unit while renting out the remaining one or two. Eventually, so long as things go well, I think I’d hold onto the property I purchase so that I could continue to rent it out after I move to a different area or find a different property in which I’d live.

If anyone’s willing to share, I’d really appreciate any thoughts from those who are or have previously been investors in Connecticut, and/or live in or near the Fairfield area, as to your impressions of those neighborhoods I mentioned, and if there are other neighborhoods where I’m not currently looking that you’d recommend checking out. I’d also be grateful for any other general advice that you might be willing to share with a first-time home buyer who is also looking to make that purchase an owner-occupied investment property. For instance, I’ve been looking into first-time homebuyer programs through the CHFA (like their down payment assistance program or other loan products), so if anyone in the CT community knows or has experience with CHFA, I’m all ears. Thanks very much for taking the time to read this, and for any thoughts anyone’s willing to post. I'm excited to be a part of the BiggerPockets community, and I've already been learning a great deal from the advice and experiences you all share.