All Forum Posts by: Dustin Smith

@Jim Adrian.  The upper units are about 350 sq ft each, the main floor is about 600 and the basement is about 700.  But in an unbelievable turn of events, the city planning and zoning office called me and basically said there was enough evidence of the 4th unit on the books that they will allow an exception! Holy smokes!

Good ideas. I like the idea of expanding one unit, but the only one it would work for is already the largest by a long shot and I don't think I could increase the rent enough to justify it. 

It was listed as a 4 plex with the 4th unit being out of commission. Unfortunately with the other issues im finding Ive been trying to clear up the red flags and Ive already opened the unit density issue with the planning and zoning office. In hind sight, I probably would have been better off just keeping my mouth shut.

Hello BP conmunity. Im currently in the process of acquiring a 4 plex that has some shady history, especially when it comes to the basement unit, which apparently had a water line break somewhere and is currently out of commission.  And being that it's out of commission, it's cheap and I can increase my equity really quick by bringing it back to habitable.  I've overstayed my inspection contingency already, but I've had several red flags come up over the last week that just have drawn the process out.  There is not a whole lot of information on the basement unit with the city, and I have spent a lot of time at the city's building inspection office trying to get answers about code issues, specifically ceiling height, which is going to be cutting hairs whether or not it meets requirements.  In all the rush of code issues and what not, I completely overlooked zoning.  According to the zoning law, the lot can only hold 3.4 units on the amount of land present.  The property cash flows with just the three units, but not enough for me to be interested.  There is the possibility of getting the lot rezoned, but it's a crap shoot and I'd have to own the property to petition a rezoning.  After looking over the land development code, I can't find anything different between the requirements of MR-2, which it is currently zoned as, and MR-3, which is what I would be petitioning for.  Has anybody had any luck petitioning for a rezoning?  I love the property, but I would be forever disgusted if I purchased it and then couldn't redo the 4th unit.  Any insight or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

@Lyndi N. awesome. I've got friends in Walhalla. Welcome to BP!

Where at in NE ND?

I'm not sure if his process, and I can't remember his name, but II have met someone in Fargo that wholesales. 

@Glenn D. I'm in the small multifamily market. Right now my wife and I are working on finding a triplex or quad to buy on FHA financing and renting out the available units. Not sure how much you know about FHA or if its something that you'd even be interested in, but for the cash strapped investor its an awesome way to get in the game.

@Glenn D. I actually never went through with the financing as I decided not to pursue any rehabs, which is where hard money is most useful. Other than that, just using bank financing. Private money is so much easier to come by when you have a record to prove your abilities as an investor. 

@Jeff Rabinowitz true, but most HMLs dont play in ND. Not sure if its a regulation issue or what it is, but I've only been able to even entertain the idea of doing business with HMLs on the MN side of the border.