All Forum Posts by: Melanie Ruff

I have been looking for my first investment property for the last 90 days. Owner occupied multi-family. I’ve looked at dozens of houses and have even placed three offers that were ultimately rejected for a different offer. I finally found a house that I am going to be putting an offer in today, and everything seemed to be smooth sailing until my realtor calls me and tells me that the property is not zoned correctly. 

It is a three-story duplex in Brewerytown. It is currently zoned as RSA5 and needs to be zoned RM1. Since I am moving forward with an FHA loan my lender said the zoning must be proper before going to settlement or else the loan will be denied. Initially, this didn't seem like the biggest issue in the world because I have no issue doing the hard work myself or from what I've been reading just hiring an expediter and getting it done and over with.

However, my realtor also says since it is technically not my house I cannot do the work to get the proper zoning permit. Over the course of the last two hours, here are the options that I have determined that I have. Any help in validating these options or advice on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated. I really want this house!

1) increase the offer on the listing slightly to compensate for the current owner to do the zoning himself as a contingency of the offer. 2) hire a expediter/zoning lawyer to work on behalf of both of us to get the proper zoning acquired and have a contract in place that says once this action is executed the seller will sell the house only to me. 3) buy the house as is and get it appraised as a single-family home which could ultimately negatively affect my lending power, but once the house is under my ownership I could file for the proper zoning and continue with plans as originally wanted.  4) I read an article that said if I do go under contract for this house the current owner could give written permission for me as the buyer to go ahead and undertake the process of getting the proper zoning acquired. Does anyone know if this is true for Philadelphia?

THANK YOU!

@Janine Covello

Thanks for sharing a little bit about your journey/experience. I would love to connect with you and hear more. What areas are your properties in? How did you find tenants? Have you had any major issues thus far especially since being a few hours away from your properties? I'm so intrigued :) 

@Shawn Kostoff

Thanks for reaching out Shawn! I appreciate it. How are you finding your properties in Delaware county? I had a few on my list as options but the taxes can be absurd in some cases!

@Bob Paxson

Morning Bob!

Currently I’m looking in the wissahickon, roxborough, Manayunk, East falls area! That’s best case scenario. I’ve also been looking in west Philadelphia closer to mantua and university city, but these properties are looking to be out of my budget for my first property.

@Kunal Mishra

Kunal, thank you for the warm introduction. It is really appreciated. What areas are you looking at in Philadelphia? What type of properties are investing in?

What's up BP Community?! 

My name is Melanie and I am officially a member of BiggerPockets as of 5 hours ago! I am from and currently reside in Philadelphia, PA. I am an Account Manager (sales) full-time and have a goal of using real estate as a means to financial freedom and eventually break away from the hamster wheel feeling of my 9 to 5.

I am currently in the process of acquiring my first property. I started looking at houses on Friday. I am very interested in buying and holding small multi-family properties. For this first investment, I am looking to rent out one or two units while I occupy a unit as well. I feel good about the decision to move into real estate and feel confident that I will not let myself fail. I know there is ALOT to know and learn, but that's with any new venture in life, right? With resources like BiggerPockets, and the network of people I have in my current circle, I know this will be a rewarding adventure. Of course there is some apprehension in regards to knowing if i'm picking the "right" first property, and having to move from a fantastic neighborhood (luxury apartment 5 min from my office) to a not so great neighborhood as a sacrifice to live in a house that's within my budget. 

I am very excited to jump right in and connect and soak up all of the REI information I can. I would love to connect with any and everyone, particularly in the Philadelphia, Jersey, Delaware area. I look forward to this real estate journey!

-Mel