I am thinking about purchasing a small rental property in a small town where there is a small university of about 2000 students. I’d like to find out information from the city about how many people are allowed to live in a house at one specific time. Does anyone know what specific city office I need to go to to check into that?
I know city government can be kind a nitpicky sometimes; is it better to ask for permission and explain my strategy to the city? Or is this more of a “ask for forgiveness” issue if it comes to that?
Investor · Bayside, NY · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
For these issues, you would have to check with City Planning, which usually zoning is part of. Usually, it would fall under rooming house regulations. Around my area, where I do rentals. 3 or more unrelated people cannot co-habitat in a housing unit unless approved.
Every town and county has such regulations, and you'll have to find the body that handles zoning or city planning and take it from there. My wife worked a few years in the Planning department and these are the usual issues they run into.
I had a co-worker whose dad rent to students in college towns, ran into these issues, but once taken care of, can be profitable.