All Forum Posts by: Yader Gomez

@Ryan Swan thank you for the input! I hadn't considered the building permits so I asked my agent to look into it. Is there a way for me to check myself? Yes, I'm buying this one sight unseen. I probably may be okay like you're saying since it looks like properties like mine may fly under the radar at times. I'm hoping to find the permits are in order before I close or I may back out. How are violations for things like this typically found out?

Hi all,

I'm under contract for my first property ever and extremely excited about it. It's a 3 unit property in Phoenix with a 3/1 main house and a second building with a 2/1 unit and a studio. In my excitement of finding something nice that made sense financially, I overlooked zoning. When I looked up the zoning, it's zoned R1-6: single-family residential 5.3 dwellings per acre.

How does this impact my desire to eventually rent out all 3 units like a 3plex and claim this as income? It appears the previous owner remodeled it and was trying to fill all 3 units to have it fully rented for the sale but I managed to contact just in time (they have 2 rented out until 12/18) since I plan to house hack. Currently they also have the landlord paying utilities which makes me think they may not be separately metered.

Does this make it illegal to have this second building and/or rent out these units? Should I back out of this deal or keep going with it and get a variance or try to re-zone? For reference, the immediate area is all R1-6 but 2 blocks west, 1 North is a pocket of MFH zoning, 2 blocks south is another MFH zoning pocket, and then one block east of the property, the entire area is MFH zoning. A look on Google maps also makes it seem like at least a few other properties on this block have a second building that (like mine) violates the zoning distance from the back of the property lot and at least one of them looked to me like a rental unit.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated as I try to get my first deal done.

Good luck to you! You are honestly in a much better starting point than most so I think it's just matter of when. I think you just need that first purchase and then things will get rolling. No rush since you don't want to start with a bad deal but don't hold yourself back either if doing your homework results in a property with numbers you like.

Thank you all for the help! It seems like there may have been confusion with conventional vs FHA. I had a different lender point that out but even he told me that 3.5% on FHA is only up to 2 units, then it jumps to 15%, which also didn't seem right to me. I talked to my agent about all I've read on here about being able to put 3.5% on up to a four plex and she spoke with my lender again and the boss of the first lender I was working with confirmed what everyone here was saying. Now we're cooking. There's a property with 3 units I'm eyeing so we'll see if everything checks out and I can get an offer in.

Thanks @Logan Allec ! That's what I thought based on all I've read here. I'm waiting for the lender to send me stuff so I can see why they're telling me this.

Hello all!

I'm currently in the process of moving to Phoenix from Orlando for my new job. I was pleasantly surprised to see the MFH inventory is much better than in Orlando. Found a few I liked and got my agent to start getting more details. But the lender that my agent works with is telling me that since they have additional units beyond my primary residence, any of these will require a higher down payment and the lowest I could get is 10% for a duplex. 

I'm still learning but this seems to go against the whole purpose of house hacking. I'm waiting now to be sent a guide she says that spells it all out. Is this a Phoenix/AZ thing or is this maybe just specific to this lender? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Congrats on you first deal!! I'm still trying to find the right one numbers wise and get the guts to pull the trigger on my first deal. What made you look into Charlotte? Lots of growth? Are you going to get property management since its out of state?

@Sung Park I hadn't thought about that. That's a great strategy. We should both qualify for decent SFH and have no school or car debt. We would be saving less in that period since we would go from splitting our current rent to paying 2 mortgages but after a year one becomes a rental.

What would you change about it? Would you change the type of property, the area you purchased in, how you financed, etc?

Like many of the newbies here, I still am hesitant to pull the trigger on my first deal. Let's assume house hacking is off the table because my girlfriend and I don't want roommates in a SFR and no MFH makes sense number-wise or are in an area we'd be okay with living in.

The main choices for me are whether to 1. Buy a primary residence that I'll be in for a good amount of time, then save up for an investment property, 2. Buy a modest primary residence that I can stay in for a few years, then upgrade and use the first one as a rental while taking advantage of the financing terms I got by going in as a primary residence, or 3. Keep renting and make my first buy an income property. 

The main dilemma for me right now is that Orange county is offering a generous $15k bond that I qualify for but it's only for first time home owners/ haven't had name on a deed in over 3 years. So if I stick with REI this will be the only time I qualify for something like this. But I'm also not a fan of still having to spend some cash on a non-income producing property and having to build back up again.

This is the inspiration I come here for. Congrats and hope that portfolio only keeps growing! I have some cash saved up and I'm itching for that first buy but suffering from analysis paralysis. Did you buy your 4plex while still renting? For over a month now I've been looking for a MFH to house hack with in Orlando but this market just doesn't have something I can afford in an area I like. So my options are buy a MFH in which I can afford the 20% and keep renting for my own residence (which I like the place I'm renting from, great landlords) or buy my own SFH and then save up again but for a rental. The latter seems harder since the former produces income. Any input is so greatly appreciated and hope to have my elusive first property under my belt soon.