All Forum Posts by: Cynthia Taylor

Hey John,

I came across this article, which I copied in part....

The least expensive and least time consuming way is to attempt to fill an application with your local Zoning Hearing Board whereby you would request for a "use variance." A zoning change is not necessary because you are simply asking for the granting of your multi-family use in a single-family zoned area. These types of requests are granted regularly because this request avoids "spot zoning" illegalities and provides a loop-pole in those cases where the requested property has a hardship based on its current zoning. There is no guarantee the Zoning Hearing Board will grant you a favorable desicision. You must trust their authority in granting or denying your request.

A "use variance" may be your answer.

Be sure to mention that the property was, at one time zoned as a multi.

Hope this leads you in the right direction.

Sincerely
Cindy

Hi Ethan!

Had some trouble with my computer, been down for awhile.

Hope all is going well with you.

I should have mentioned to you that the in-house Escrow Department, at your title company, would be the place to start because they can answer your needs about closings and the title company in general!

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

Thank you Michael! I will!

Hopefully, I will be posting experiences in the next couple of months.

Keep me posted on how you are doing!

Hi!

My name is Cindy and I just wanted to say Thank You Brandon Turner for that welcome email you sent me four days ago! I just read it today and now I am going to go back and edit my profile! And Thank You to all those who sent me a wealth of articles to read!

As I said, my name is Cindy and I live in Arizona. I came here from California where I received most of my education in real estate by working in title insurance for almost 10 years. I only worked for two companies during that time so that allowed me to cross-train in all the different departments such as Searching, Customer Service, Policy and Prelim typist, Escrow Secretary, Receptionist and Title Secretary in the first company.

Then I was recruited by a Sales Rep who opened his own company to set up his Word Processing Department where we used Display Writers (that should give you an idea of how long ago that was!) and became Supervisor of that Department and still continued to learn and eventually became a Title Secretary!

The set-up of title companies from California to Arizona is so different, or maybe it was just the company that picked to interview me, I felt like I was in a foreign country! Needless to say, I did not pursue a career in title in AZ.

Instead, I became a Domestic Engineer (Homemaker) and raised my family and went to college and earned my Associates in Paralegal studies. There is a whole other reason why I wanted to learn how to navigate around the arena of law and understand, at least, a little bit of what I read! Wait!! that sounds horrible!! We bought a house and the roof was covered by the contractor but he never fixed it properly.....and we could not afford an attorney....so I talked my husband into fighting the contractor ourselves! We won! See! Nothing bad!

But what I found out when I went back to college is that Legal Research was my passion and still is! Which....

Brings me to how I found this site. I was yet, again, watching a video on how to make money in real estate and one word stuck out WHOLESALING! I never heard of that! But I was lead here as I clicked on the different links. Praise the Lord!

Well, this letter is pretty long, but that is 34 years of my life in a nutshell!

And, you guys have made me realize, I do have some kind of experience in real estate and I can use it! Thank you for that!

Right now, I want to learn as much as I can about Wholesaling and generally I start reading and researching and this is a wonderful place to be.

Thanks for letting me introduce myself! OOO! New people read your emails from BiggerPockets they are so helpful! Don't wait like me!!!!

Hi Ethan!

I am very new to BiggerPockets and this is truly an amazing place.

Now I just learned about the Keyword Alert here today and I can even see the link as I am posting this.

I haven't tried it yet but I will!

I believe that using Keyword Alert will alert you to when someone is posting or has posted what you are interested in. At least that is my initial understanding. It sounds like it could save you tons of searching and getting you a wealth of knowledge that is your interest.

Using a title company v. a real estate attorney.

I personally would use a title company (a well established one) versus an attorney. I recommend Stewart Title, First American Title and Fidelity National.

They have everything you need in-house , from opening to closing, including their own attorneys.

Real quick let me tell you this story. My husband and I bought a house from another gentleman, we used a title company. One day I got a knock on the door, I opened it and this little elderly gentleman asked if he could speak with me. We talked and well...he had bought a house also from the person who sold us a house... but he used an attorney. Now, he told me I am being evicted because someone else was on the title, that he did not know about and he did not have money to buy that person out, so he believed he was going to lose his house he had owned for 7 years! He didn't lose his house because of other actions he could take.

But my point is it took 7 years for a mistake, by the attorney, to show up! And he could not remember who the attorney was or find his documents!

I know you can get duplicates but to an ordinary person it could be very scary!

It is so important to have that chain of title cleared. Also, you do not have to keep an attorney on retainer.

After all of that being said, I hope this helps!

Years ago I worked in title. The two I highly recommend is Stewart Title and First American. Both of these title companies are in N.Y. and Conn. They are established companies and are nationwide.

There are many respected title companies. I choose the well established companies.

They are full service (as are most) from opening your order, to generating your prelim, policy, clearing your chain of title (generally via a Title desk) , in-house escrow (for closings etc.) etc. and have their own in-house attorneys.

Now, the set-up I speak about above has changed in some states but the services remain the same.

In most cases, if you use a title company, you do not need an outside attorney for your real estate deal. I would ask and verify that all these services are still in-house.

I hope this helps.

Good Luck with your endeavor!