All Forum Posts by: Joel G.

 Hi Jackson - would you mind sharing with me as well? Thanks in advance!

Hi BP Community!

I'm currently under contract on a property and after pulling permits, I found out that the house was literally moved. The seller didn't disclose, so I'm looking to make sure they are aware of this before we move forward with the purchase. 

The property is all brick, built in 1960, and I'm under contract for approx 18% below comps (price per square foot). The permits show that the house was moved in 1978 from a location about 5 miles north of where the property currently is located. There are also permits for the inspection of the foundation when the house was relocated. 

I had a home inspector point out several cracks on the outside of the house, with a few cracks inside. We also notice a few cracks on the tile in the same general area of the external cracks. All windows/doors open up perfectly fine. I'm thinking that maybe the house shifted a bit as part of the move and that there are no real issues with the house.

I'm trying to get a contractor to check out the property and let us know if there are any significant issues they can see, but from my understanding, even getting structural engineers to check out the property would require significant time and resources to perform a full evaluation. My question to you is - have any of you had experience with this situation? Are there any considerations I should be making prior to purchasing the property? I'm hoping maybe some of you have dealt with this and can provide any guidance/thoughts/opinions to this unique situation. 

Thank you all in advance!

Welcome to the site! BP has a ton of great resources/information! 

Thanks @Dick Rosen ! I'd hate to inherit a legal issue with this property, so I'll definitely keep contacting the city. 

Thanks again!

Hey BP, 

I'm currently under contract on a property that has some zoning issues in Phoenix and I'm wondering whether any of you have any experience in rezoning in the city of Phoenix from a SFH to a multiunit?

Specifically, the property I'm looking at has been a duplex since it was built, and it has been rented as such. It is zoned as a duplex with the county (I think); however, it is zoned as SFH with the city of Phoenix. I'm wondering whether this is a red flag, or if this is an easy issue to deal with.

Thanks for the help!

@Albert Bui Thanks for the quick response! I hope you have happy holidays :)

@Albert Bui Thanks for the response - you are right in assuming we have the same last name. I guess I'm trying to figure out the best way for me to structure this. Not quite sure if it would make sense to co-sign a loan just to have me on the home, where I can likely get a similar outcome (have the home upon their passing) if I buy it from them before they pass and/or have it gifted to me. 

Do you see any pros/cons in either of these scenarios? 

@Ceril S. It's great to hear there are other people out there with a similar situation! Do you mind sharing with me how you plan to structure your purchase? 

Right it it not being a multifamily (that's what I'm looking for as an owner occupied primary residence) - I never even considered the rent they would be paying - I just assumed if they were going to help with a down payment, they would pay the rent as well as any repairs/maintenance until they no longer needed the house. I'll have to look into renting a house above/below FMV and see how we can structure this.

Great point on listing responsibilities out - the last thing I'd want is for there to be any bad blood over a deal where both sides were trying to help each other out. 

@Jake Landry Thanks for the response! 

I thought the homestead exemption is only relevant if you are trying to get protection from the seizure of your property due to a collection on the debt (like a bankruptcy).  I could be way off (still learning pretty much everything). 

Maybe you are suggesting that i'd be able to deduct the interest for tax purposes? If this is the case, you are right - there is definitely some value added by this. 

I fully agree with you on being able to count the rental income as part of my income for my next property - I think the general consensus is that you'd need 2 years of tax returns with this rental income, even then I think you are only allowed to claim 75% of that rental income as "income" for your next purchase. At least that is what my loan officer has told me.

I see that you are new to the site - welcome! I'm a big fan of spurring conversations on RE and seeing what we can learn from eachother!

Hello All, 

Happy holidays! I'm hoping you all can help provide some guidance/info on my situation. I'll try to make this as concise as possible. 

I'm looking to buy a property for myself (owner occupant) in the next few months. I've been pre-approved for a loan, so now its a matter of finding a property that can cash flow (looking for a multifamily property where I'd live in one unit and rent the remainder). This would be my first property and I'd be taking advantage of a low down payment. 

An opportunity has recently come up where my parents would like me to buy a property and rent it to them, and they would help me with around 50% of the down payment. I believe they can qualify for their own loan; however, they prefer to have me purchase it so that I can have it as an investment property down the road. I've spoken with a few loan officers/credit unions and it seems that the home for my parents would have to be purchased using an investment loan (20% down). This would be subject to my financing ability, but I'm assuming since i don't have any other debt, an investment property should be do-able.  

Assuming this is something I can/should pursue, I"m trying to make sure I'm considering all avenues so that I'm not left with too much exposure. I'm thinking there are a few avenues that I can take and am wondering what you all would suggest:

1 - I can apply for an investment loan for my parents property and rent it out to them. The only item I am concerned of is that the debt on this would obviously go on my "books" and that would potentially impact me from getting a loan on a primary residence for me in the near future. In addition, I'm worried this might tie up too much money and I might miss out on a deal.

2 - I can co-sign a loan with them, which I think would allow me to refinance the home down the road under my name only, but I think this would leave me with the same concerns as #1 (in terms of qualifying for a primary residence)

3 - I can see if there is a legal way to obtain the property - I'm assuming setting up a living trust or having them sell me the property at some point down the road equal to their cost at the time. 

4 - Let this pass and focus on buying a primary home first.

Any thoughts? 

Thanks in advance! Looking forward to your responses.