All Forum Posts by: Stephan Nemeth

Thanks Beth, I am heading down to the zoning office on Monday.  From everything I've heard so far, it does sound like a tedious and drawn out process that I am not looking forward to.  Many small multi family properties are in the area but no rezoning examples that I am aware of, sounds like a good question for the planning department. It was converted to a quadraplex well over 50 years ago so hopefully there is some sort of grandfather clause the property would qualify for. Planning already shot down the full quad rebuild so hopefully zoning goes better.  Thanks for the response.

Hey BiggerPockets Atlanta,

I am currently looking into a quadraplex that has residential (R4) zoning. From what I understand, it is technically legal but non conforming and if it were to be destroyed for whatever reason I could not rebuild it as a quadraplex without getting it rezoned to RG.  Does anyone have any experience getting properties rezoned in Atlanta?  How hard/long is the process and any tips or advice would be extremely helpful.

Thanks everyone for the insightful responses. I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable with the deal, as long as everything gets fixed. Since the seller is paying, it shouldn't impact the purchase price that we agreed upon but I will stay somewhat involved to ensure they are using listened and insured people as well as obtaining the correct permits.  Thanks 

Hi BP,

I recently went under contract for a quad and secured a pretty fair deal from the retiring owner.  Everything was going smoothly until the inspection revealed some potential structural issues.  Upon further inspection from a structural engineer, he determined that several structural beams, footings, etc needed to be repaired or more likely replaced.  This home is 100 years old and the issues stem from the building techniques used 100 years ago and typically decay, from what the engineer has explained. My first impulse was to walk and find another deal but the seller agreed to make all repairs using a third party and then have my structural engineer do a final walk through and provide to me a letter of their correct repair.  The structural engineer is a licensed, bonded, and insured professional.  Does this letter shift any liability to the engineer who passes the work?  Would this repair and 3rd party verification make this a viable deal?  Ultimately, is this a deal other investors would make or would the repair/replace still not be enough?  (I understand that without listing out the specific structural defects in greater detail what I am asking is hard but just trying to get a general idea.)

Thanks

I am still looking for a quad in the Atlanta area, mainly searching in the Virginia highlands, midtown, or buckhead area so I would enjoy living in in the property. Prices are very high and most listings don't even make it to the MLS so finding a property with a reasonable return hasn't been easy but I am still hopeful. So far it seems like the only two options I have are 25% down conventional (i haven't found a bank that will do a 5% down conventional loan on a quad) or 3.5% down FHA and all the additional fees and PMI that come along with an FHA. Hopefully my next post will include a purchase with some more specific detail.

I am currently looking for a triplex or quadraplex in the Atlanta market but haven't been seeing many available properties lately.  Any wholesalers or agents out there have anything?

That's a great starting point and I am in Georgia which does not have a provision allowing tenants to break leases for job relocations.  

I just bought a fourplex and literally the day after I closed one of the tenants had his job relocated. He still has 8 months left on his lease and he wants to break it.  My initial reaction is to charge a three month rent break fee.  I was just curious as to what other landlords generally charge in this type of circumstance.  Any feedback would be much appreciated.  Thanks in advance. 

Thanks for all the great responses, I'll be sure to check out the Paula Pants website, as well. I am already closing on one four unit rental so I'm I don't think I'd qualify for any first time home buyers programs but I am looking into FHA for a four unit which I believe has a max loan of $659,000. I'd love to do a 5% down conventional but are there any loan limits associated with that loan type that your aware of Elizabeth? I ask because, as Pyrrha alluded to, many more affordable properties with better returns are in areas that I wouldn't want to live in so I've been concentrating my search around the Virginia highlands, old fourth ward, and grant park. Prices have risen pretty high over the last few years though so deals are tough to come by and jumbo loans are necessary when I've found anything.