Hello! I'm here in Chicago and am planning to sell my 1906 home. It's zoned as a SFH 202, but has an in-law unit (above grade) and a partially finished attic that connects to the main floor. The main floor and in-law unit do not connect at all.
When we purchased the home, the appraiser classified the home as a multi-family house and we ran into a headache with the loan officer who was going to kick us over to multi-family pricing, which we couldn't afford. It was sorted out in the end, but I'm concerned that the next buyer is going to run into the same issue, as the house was under contract twice before we bought it.
@Collins Van Liew a good RE attorney can look into this for you. A good lender could probably help to. @Joshua Jones is my lender and he has helped me sort through this kind of stuff before.
@Collins Van Liew a good RE attorney can look into this for you. A good lender could probably help to. @Joshua Jones is my lender and he has helped me sort through this kind of stuff before.
@John Warren thank you. @Collins Van Liew the main issue you might have is what is called an accessory unit. If the home is zoned as single family, as you state, then you will need to make sure whoever buys it, is using a direct lender. So typically not your banks as they tend to have a lot of overlays. It will all come down to the appraiser and are they going to state it is an accessory unit or a full blown rental unit. That will determine a lot. If the buyers new lender states its a multi-unit, that is different rates for the buyer, down payment requirements and more.
@Joshua Jones, @John Warren, Thank you guys for the direction here; I think this makes a lot of sense and definitely feels like the kind of thing that would have been nice to know 5 years ago when we bought this place. As we start talking to our realtor, I think having this info in hand will make that process much more straightforward!
Thanks again for being willing to answer my question!!