All Forum Posts by: Jeremy Benezra

Does anyone operate a duplex out of what is realistically a single family residence?

I purchased a house in Federal Way, Washington that has an upstairs kitchen and a downstairs kitchen, separate entries...  I'd like to lock the door in between upstairs and downstairs and rent out the downstairs unit and main floor unit separately to 2 separate tenants.

The house is not zoned as multifamily, it's zoned one SFR per 7200 of lot space and I'm 9000 something.

Do you think I will run into trouble with City or County?  Is there any specific terms I should put into the lease?

Electrical, plumbing, and heating are not split between upstairs and downstairs, though downstairs has in-wall cadet heaters. So there will have to be some friendliness/cooperation between the tenants upstairs and downstairs.

What about refinancing? Will it be more difficult to refinance with my 2 tenants and 2 leases vs if I had the whole house rented out to one tenant?

Thanks for your insight!

@Jeff Dzado Thats a good idea, I'll give it a try.  Thanks!

Sorry, I should have mentioned that.  Yes, permits were pulled for converting the garage to living space.  

I keep my cards pretty close to my chest in regards to giving info out to big brother.  That's why I was asking you guys here.    :)

Not sure if you actually read what I wrote.

I purchased a house in Federal Way at the foreclosure auction.  It’s near Military Road S and 288th.  My question is can I make this a legal duplex and rent out the upstairs and downstairs separately?

As I bought the house at the foreclosure auction, I wasn’t able to see the interior beforehand.  So I wasn’t sure if it would be a flip or rental, but from driving the house I could see the garage had been converted to living space.  Yesterday I did a Cash for Keys exchange, changed the locks, and took possession.

Walking through the house, I’m trying to decide what to do with it.  Now that I’m inside I see this as a better rental than flip.  It’s a split level of sorts – there’s a Main level, an Upstairs above that, then a Ground level that used to be the garage but was converted.

On the Main level is the kitchen, family room, 3 bedrooms, full bath with washer and dryer.  Upstairs from the main level is a half size floor composed of a large bonus room, an office (no closet but I could add one to make it a bedroom), and a full bathroom.

On the Ground level is 2 bedrooms, a ¾ bath, and a room that was used as a kitchen/family/laundry room – there’s another washer and dryer connection here and a half kitchen.

Electrical, plumbing, and heating are not split between upstairs and downstairs, though downstairs has in-wall cadet heaters.  So there will have to be some friendliness/cooperation between the tenants upstairs and downstairs.

The whole house needs to be fixed up, but in general the house has good bones and the garage conversion was pretty well done.

I see a lot of benefits from splitting into 2 units as opposed to renting the whole house out.  I’d either have one unit that’s a 5 bed, 2.75 bath with a couple bonus rooms and an office.  OR I’d have 2 units, the first being a 3 bed, 2 bath with bonus room and office PLUS a second unit being a 2 bed .75 bath.

I don’t want to do the remodel work for 2 kitchens and then have the City say I can’t operate it as a duplex.  Is there a way to legally make this a duplex without having to separate the mechanical systems?  County has the zoning listed as R.

What would you do in this situation?

What about refinancing?  Will it be more difficult to refinance with my 2 tenants and 2 leases vs if I had the whole house rented out to one tenant?

Thanks!

Seattle is turning into a craphole.  Its true.

I just moved from Seattle to the suburbs.  Petty crime (vandalism, smash and grab, prowling) is at an amazing high, drug usage and homeless are everywhere.  Drive down i5 and you will see literally hundreds of homeless tents, like whole neighborhoods, even built up encampments with patios, gigantic piles of trash...  Its insane.  Watch a video about the Seattle City Council.  That group of idiots is destroying the city.  

Seattle property values might have skyrocketed in the last decade or two, but I don't ever see myself living in city again. But Seattle isn't dying.  Seattle is being Killed, by the Seattle City Council, and other idiots.  

Every flipper is different.  My mindset its, I'm not selling them a brand new house, but every aspect of every system must be safe and in working condition.  Wire splices shouldn't be buried in walls, they should all be in j-boxes.  Water intrusion issues and leaks are paramount.

There are going to be maintenance items that will pop up for the buyers in the next few years, maybe even a couple tiny ones in the first year.  But nothing out of the ordinary is going to pop up.  They will need to clean gutters and change filters.  If the exterior wasn't repainted, they might need to caulk around windows and doors.  But these things are all normal maintenance items for a home owner.  

I don't allow shoddy work on my projects.  Just because drywall is going to cover something and hide it, that does not give me the right to do crap work and sell it to someone else.  

Sergei with Seattle Home Windows might be able to help.  He did some high quality repairs of wood windows and window hardware for me.

@Albert Bui

Do you know the name's of lenders offering this?  Thanks

I may be missing something, but to me, its way too much mixing of business and personal if I'm using the HELOC to fund a flip, my income (w2 or otherwise) is going to paydown the HELOC balance, and then I'm also paying personal living expenses with the HELOC as they come. Seems like a lot of mixing, breaching of the corporate veil... How does this work in conjunction with LLC liability protection? How do you do bookkeeping like this?