All Forum Posts by: Dominick Tanella

@Kenneth Garrett thank you very much for the info. I will definitely look into this. 

@Kenneth Garrett The house is not in bad shape at all. Can probably be rented as is without issue but in order to get higher rents it can definitely use some remodeling.

Do you have advice on how to check the zoning? Is this info available online? The street has a mix of multi units and single family so I am not sure why the town would disagree but I have never been through the process so that is complete speculation. 

The house is currently zoned as a single family but the owner has lived in it since the 60s and separated the units while there so the nephew could live in the house separately from rest of the family; basically like a mother-daughter with separate utilities. Now they are looking to sell and are having issues selling because all offers are contingent on it being a legal two family but the owner does not want to convert it before selling. This leads me to believe it could possibly be an opportunity to offer lower on it as a single and convert it to a multi after close. 

Hi,

A house in an A neighborhood recently went on the market in my area that has two separate units with separate utilities. The house is unfortunately zoned as a single family. The lender says he can’t legally lend on a single family with two kitchens and the owner doesn’t want to convert.

Does anyone have any experience with zoning conversions from single to multi? Particularly in NJ?

I believe the seller would accept a lower offer if the buyer were to convert which would actually make it a decent deal. However, if conversion isn’t possible the monthly payment is not a desirable payment to be stuck with.

There are other multi family units on the same street so I would imagine it is not impossible but I am concerned about how long it can take/costs of doing so.

Any experience would be greatly appreciated.

Dominick

Hi,

A house in an A neighborhood recently went on the market in my area that has two separate units with separate utilities. The house is unfortunately zoned as a single family. The lender says he can’t legally lend on a single family with two kitchens and the owner doesn’t want to convert. 

Does anyone have any experience with zoning conversions from single to multi? Particularly in NJ? 

I believe the seller would accept a lower offer if the buyer were to convert which would actually make it a decent deal. However, if conversion isn’t possible the monthly payment is not a desirable payment to be stuck with. 

There are other multi family units on the same street so I would imagine it is not impossible but I am concerned about how long it can take. 

Any experience would be greatly appreciated.  

Dominick

Hi all,

I have been looking for two families for a very long time now but unfortunately the market is not offering much that seems to be a good investment. As a result I have been considering buying a condo with the eventual goal being to move out and rent it out. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions here? Any recommended books on this type of investment? Do you believe a two family is a better investment than a condo? 

I’m looking in northern NJ and the two families on the market either won’t cash flow (high asking and property tax) or they are in C or D markets which I do not want to purchase/live in. 

Thanks,

Dominick

Ok great thanks a lot for clarifying. I thought so but wanted to confirm for reassurance. I have been making the 50% and 1% calculations as well but I haven't spoke to an agent yet. Looking to do so shortly. Thanks again for your responses.

Hello all, regarding deal analysis I have a question regarding the process; more specifically, when to perform a detailed analysis (before or after an offer has been made?). I assumed it would be BEFORE, however, I am currently reading Brandon Turners "The Book on Rental Property Investing" and it seems that doing the full detailed analysis based on inspecting documents provided by the seller is completed in the due diligence phase of the deal AFTER the offer has been made. So basically, an offer is made based on estimated comparable data you find on your market beforehand and what's provided by the agent then the specifics are determined after the offer has been made? Any insight would be appreciated.

The map feature on Craigslist is something I picked up from one of Brandon Turners videos (unfortunately I'm having trouble finding it again). Basically if you are looking on Craigslist to rent you can switch the view from 'list' to 'map' and it will show you a map view with all the rental houses and their rates pin pointed on the map. I will definitely be giving some property management companies a call. Is this information they freely divulge meaning is this something they give to just anyone calling and not a client of theirs?

Thank you all for your replies I appreciate it. Does anyone have any insight about FHA loans and self-employed persons? I'm considering switching to the carpet cleaning position full-time as it's a family owned business and I believe I can grow the business much more. Unfortunately I will probably take a reduction in income for awhile until I can grow it enough to replace my current income but I would like to invest in RE sooner rather than later. Any suggestions?

Hello all, I have been looking at multi-families recently with hopes of house hacking via an FHA loan but I have been looking through the forums and learned that FHA requires 2 years of W2 income. I have consistently had W2 income, however, it has NOT been at one full time job for about two years now. I have been working as a part-time accountant for two separate CPA firms. One I am W2 the other I am 1099. I also work part-time as a carpet cleaner on the weekends which is also W2. Between the three jobs I am working 45-55 hour weeks steady. Would my situation disqualify me for an FHA loan? Any insight would be appreciated.