All Forum Posts by: Eugenia K.

@Marc Winter good points- the risk of the tenant acting up definitely came to my mind as they've been paying significantly under-market rents and I was thinking to owner occupy their space.

I tried to counter with an offer that I thought was a fair price (a slight discount on the current income on the unit) with a contingency to re-register all units so I could borrow some time on legalizing. Alternatively, I could go for another visit and bring out a GC to determine viability. The sellers refused on all fronts, so the deal is now dead. Better off I suppose :)

I was wondering if anyone had experience with writing or receiving offers that required a property's rental property registration be renewed. If so, how was that constructed? 

For context, I'm in negotiations on a property that has been running a rental for over a decade without the proper ADU permits. The rental is registered with the city, though the registration expires in a couple of months. Therefore, it would expire post-close if I do nothing. Rather than my potentially running into issues in renewing it right after purchase, I'd like to add a requirement that the rental needs to be renewed by the seller prior to close, so I have adequate time to legalize the unit. 

@Thomas Mattausch yes it is a grandfathered duplex on SF zoning. I assumed per this code that it didn't matter if the property was a SFH or MFH on SF zoning- up to 2 ADUs could be added.

I'm skeptical the ADU was built out as far back as the 1950s (the property itself was built in the 1960s) but I would love to understand how you use the Seattle Times archives to research this for other properties. Can you share more about how you use the Seattle Times to help validate this type of question?

Thanks @Sherief Elbassuoni! I've seen the ADU requirements though they are quite detailed. Since it is my first purchase of such property, I don't think I can be completely sure about legalizing without someone more familiar with the intricacies of the requirements. There is a separate entry and kitchen, but the water heater and electrical panel are shared, for example.

@Julie Marquez I've been looking into getting nonconforming units legalized and would be curious to hear more about your experience about the requirements for permitting as an ADU vs a proper duplex unit!

I'm in negotiations on a duplex property with a nonconforming, illegal basement ADU (3 units total). All units have tenants. However, without more information about the downstairs unit and going through the permitting process, it's unclear whether I can get it legalized, and most likely won't have sufficient time during the due diligence process to know for sure. Therefore, I need to make a judgement call on whether (or how much) to consider the income the sellers are getting on the unit. Would you include it in your calculations around your offer? If so, would you consider the full or partial amount?

For more context:

- The property is located in Seattle and on a SF5000 lot

- All 3 units are registered as rentals and the basement unit has had the same tenants for over a decade

- A cursory email to the city asking whether the unit could the legalized received a "no" (though I think for incorrect reasons)

- There's a high probability that as is, the unit doesn't meet fire codes (window egress), and I would need to spend some cash getting it to code