All Forum Posts by: David Cheng

You might go to the planning and zoning office IN person, don't call, and talk to planning staff.  Just run it by them and see what they think.  Take pictures printed and your current plat.  I think they would tell you informally if they think it is allowable or not.  Then I'm thinking you need to hire a surveyor to do the replat for you and submit.  I'm thinking 60-90 days.   I think things are getting better in Dallas.  I also think there is some kind of rule that once you formally submit the replat they have to act within 30 days or it is automatically approved.  Lots of uproar along similar lines in CA.  Dallas seems to be moving towards some more liberal zoning ideas, so maybe they will approve.

I still think financing might be an issue, before Covid was 4+ years ago now.  Lots of condo financing before that, and plenty of issues have gone on since then.  Think Florida rule changes after the Palm Beach/Surfside collapse,  think Dallas freeze lawsuits, think about the parking garage collapse at the Renaissance.  See any condos being built around Dallas?  There are some, but very very few.   You might try to track down some local lenders who are experts in condo lending to see if they would finance them.  It's not just about Freddie and Fannie rules, they probably also have some overlays as well that are more restrictive.  Townhomes might be a different story if the dirt is also separately sold vs common to the 4 units.

I'm no expert on lending though and probably plenty of people here have more expertise, but I've sold a lot of condos and townhomes in Dallas in lots of different developments, so just telling you some of what I have seen and experienced.  I can tell you it seems like every day people say they can finance some of these things, and when they get down to it, they can't perform.  Even some really great experienced lenders can't get them done.  That's condos, not townhomes.

@Bruce Lynn @Jay Hurst On the 17 th condos that we did there was no problem getting financing, 15 were sold to owner occupants and 2 were sold to one investor. we did not do owner financing on any condo project we did and everybody got institutional financing including conventional, FHA and VA. In the existing building project all condos were sold to owner occupants.

@Bruce Lynn  @David Cheng

 The good news here is the condo projects that are 2-4 units are exempt from the project review that trips up so many condo's for conventional  financing. 

https://selling-guide.fanniemae.com/sel/b4-2.1-02/waiver-pro...

@Diego A.  I have been managing and owning rentals for a long time, i used to manage 100%, now 50%.  On the 17 units, I would have liked to keep, but with all other obligations, could not at that time.  The legal cost to condo was in the range of $5,000 to $10,000, versus the subdivision costs which would have been maybe $50,000.   

We saved lots of money and time, by condo-ing a 17 townhouse complex as well as condo-ing and existing building built around 1900. The condo-ing did require condo docs compliant with state laws, containing all the cluses required by law. In both of those situation the land remained whole as one tract essentially owned by the condo association (HOA) while the individual units were sold to individual owners. At the 17 TH there was one owner that bought 2 as investments, but all the others were individual owners, mostly owner occupied and just a few landlords owned. Besides being easier, on the 17 units there was a driveway and 36 parking lot owned by the HOA, that if there was a land subdivision would require other things. For example the driveway would be a "public municipal" road and have to be built to "road standards" such as 8' base and 8" pavement. A private driveway doesn't have to meet those standards, but also doesn't get public snow removal or public repair. Those responsibilities become HOA responsibilities. Also trash removal needs to be privately secured, as public carrier will only pick up along public roads. Another responsibility for the HOA. But the developmental costs were many thousands less and the time to get approval less. These two were done in two different states under two different state development rules, both much easier. We have done many other subdivisions involving up to 100 acres, but there were the easiest. In the second state, the municipality by law had no authority to change anything and the one meeting with them was advisory only. After that one meeting the engineered plan was recorded at the courthouse and we could sell individual units. All of those units went to owner occupants. Covod-ization versus land subdivision, its no contest imho.

David Krulac, Bigger Pockets Podcast #82 Guest 

 Hi Carlos.

Property Management is divided into a couple of areas though people often refer to it as "property management".  Most people just use the term but there is association management, apartment/ Multi-family management and then property management.

For instance, in Florida, you need a license to practice Association Management (in most cases) and a real estate license to practice property management (in most cases).  You do not need to have a license to manage an apartment community.

Property management can then be broken down into "annual" property management (normally a unit without furniture), a seasonal rental management (such as 2 weeks to several months up to 6 months) and then vacation rentals (sometimes for the weekend, a week, etc..).

Each state has its different rules and licensing for each area of property management (annual, seasonal and vacation) as well as the different areas of management (association, apartment and property).

I hope that helps.