All Forum Posts by: Hady Farag

 Hey @Shawn Mcenteer - Thank you for sharing. I'm in talks with a few attorneys at the moment but I'm always open to getting a 2nd opinion on this situation. I'll send you a DM if that's alright with you

 This is actually something that came across my mind this week! Glad to hear you mentioning it. Might be the best way to avoid any issues going forward.

 Salaam! Appreciate your response @Mohammed Rahman. 

I discussed with an attorney that specializes in evictions and it doesn't seem to be as big of an issue as I think. The property is located in University Heights so you're right, most of my tenants are students from Rutgers & NJIT. Hoping the process doesn't get complicated. 

Hey BP community,

I just recently purchased a 2 family in Newark in which I inherited tenants that the previous owner had. I wasn't 100% sure If I wanted to keep them or not but decided to keep them because they were all paying on time and were good tenants.

Now here's where my problem begins;

Each tenant is occupying a bedroom. Which is pretty common in New York City, however, upon consulting with a lawyer regarding a separate issue, It's come to my knowledge that having room rentals are considered illegal in the state of NJ. 

I made the decision to want to end everyone's tenancy and avoid any litigations later on down the line. But one thing is what I WANT to do and what I CAN do. It seems like I can't legally evict anyone without possibly running into trouble if the tenant decides to go that route. 

Has anyone in New Jersey experienced this? I'm not sure why my lawyer at the time didn't advise me that this would potentially be an issue later on down the line and I'm also not sure why the city even issued a CO. Any advice or recommendations on lawyers that specialize in this is greatly appreciated .

 Hey Drew,

Would you mind if I sent you a direct message? I'm in a similar situation you're in and would like some advice.

 I ended up buying in Newark, literally 2 blocks away from where the first property that under appraised for is. And get this, the 2-family I purchased appraised at $575k where the 3-family that I was under contract for appraised at $475k. Didn't make sense to me then and still doesn't make sense to me now.

From what I've been hearing appraisers are being very conservative in this hot market. I had to come out of pocket for my purchase. I would say go with the mindset of maybe coming out of pocket. 

@Joseph Antwi

I get it. I finally closed on a 2-family in Newark last week after 10 months searching. It’s crazy how this market is but here are a few experiences I went through that I can share ..

My first offer on a property I got an accepted offer! I was ecstatic to say the least. Especially at a time where interest rates were at an all time low, I had a quote at 2.5% and the property was a legal 3-family. Then came the appraisal …

The property under appraised by $175k below the agreed upon price (Imagine a 3-family with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms in each unit in Newark with no work needed appraising at 475K LOL). I was going through FHA and the hoops they make you jump to fight an appraisal is ridiculous. The deal fell apart and I was pretty bummed out but I wasn't giving up.

4 offers later I finally got the perfect property for me and did a conventional loan. Most of the time I was getting outbid by people, as much as by 50k over asking price, and that’s just the game. I lived with my decisions knowing I made my best offer and not basing it off on emotions. You’ll find something soon, just revisit your offers and stay competitive. In my experience the offers that were picked were the ones that offer the most money. Good luck and don’t give up

Hey BP community,

I just recently purchased a 2 family in Newark & I am looking at options to convert it into a 3 family. The property is located in R4 zoning and the house next door is a legal 3 family with a similar build as mine. It seems as if they managed to convert the ground level into a legal unit (2 bedroom 1 bathroom). The only difference is that the house already has fire exit stair cases in the back and it's on an oversized lot.

 The ground level unit on my property already has the following;
- ready means of egress through two accessible doors 

- fireproof partition / wall completely separating any boiler or furnace unit.

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience in this? Or can recommend an architect or engineer in the Newark/Essex County area familiar with the code. Based on what I've read, it seems like I would need an architects approval  before doing anything. 

I actually just closed on a property in Newark that is exactly how you described and I'm looking to make it legal. Previous owner stated he never bothered looking into it because of the implied cost associated to it. I'm looking into this as well ! I'll let you know what I find out.

@Eric James

Quick update.

HUD approved another appraisal to be done by the original lender. They found discrepancies on the original appraisal that merited a new one. The main one being not taking into account that the property was rebuilt in 1990 and has a brand new foundation.