All Forum Posts by: Duane Ward

As we're looking in our market, we're finding more owners selling currently in our area than pre-covid.

1. What might that indicate in the current climate?

2. Are there any advantages/disadvantages to buying directly from the owner?

3. Can you still have agent representation on your end?

Quote from @Abel Curiel:

Quote from @Duane Ward:

Awesome information! Thanks so much for the links. I will check them out. So they would essentially be saying that they wpuld be blocking the local municipalities from making banning the zoning switches right? It's so weird not being from here. Where I'm from, we seemingly can do what we want for the most part. Many more rules in every part of everything here. Are there certain lingo we should look out for to tip us off to it not being a true multi but an accessory instead?

 NY and California, from what I've read and experienced, are 2 of the most difficult states to get things done with respect to Real Estate. Other states operate the way you described it being where you're from.

As far as lingo to look out for:

In-law suite

Mother/Daughter

Income potential

Can be converted

Possible conversion

Additional living space

Hopefully there are some others that the BP members can tack on but I'm sure these are the most common in NY.

Keep in mind, publicly listed properties have to be accurately depicted on MLS - Agents can face fines for falsely advertising properties as a multi-family when they are in fact legal 1-family dwellings.

Furthermore, your Real Estate attorney will run a title search immediately after you go into contract to insure you aren't walking into any traps.

Ironically, we just ran into a property that we were interested where this happened. They posted the property, got into negotiations, then the deal fell through. When they relisted, they stated deal fell through, but also noticed they changed the descriptor to state it it was a sfh with accessory.

Quote from @Suzanne Player:

The search functions on a lot of real estate sites could really use an upgrade - an accessory apartment requiring the owner to live on the property should be a separate category box that can be checked, but I've never seen this anywhere.  On Long Island it seems you have to weed through a lot of those type of properties to get to the multifamilies that can be owned by a non-owner occupant.  

Also, our multifamilies are not generally congregated in a separate section of a town, which is apparently the case in many parts of the country.  But I think the Manorhaven section of Port Washington has a lot of 2 family properties, you might look there if you are interested in Nassau County.

You might want to ask about rental permits also, some municipalities require them to rent out your units.  They have an application, inspection (for things like smoke/CO detectors), and a fee of course.  Your real estate broker will either know off the top of their head or can quickly find out for you.

Great tips and I totally agree. They def should have a button to click for that. There are just so many misrepresented properties out there. When you're new especially until you understand what to look for, it can seem very annoying to go through all of your due diligence just find out in the end, it's not what it seems. Speaking of rental permits, I never thought about this, but do the rental permits ever expire? Random but just realized I haven't heard of somebody renewing one.

Quote from @Steve Zappalla:

Hey @Duane Ward,

One thing to question is if the home is a LEGAL 2 Family by CO or if it is an owner occupied 2 family. Many times it could be a single family home with a LEGAL ADU but the owner needs to live there. Agents will many times post these on the MLS as two families but they truly aren't. Always do your due diligence and reach out to the town before you're buying anything.

If I'm not mistaken, theres 3 codes correct? Legal 2 fam, owner occupied and permitted accessory correct? I've seen all 3 of these wordings in our research. Just trying to confirm that it's not just semantics with some of them.

Thanks Matthew, 

These codes will truly come in handy as we continue to weed through the properties popping up. Thanks for the info. Hadn't thought of looking at the tax bills for that. How updated are they? For instance, we just saw a property that was supposedly just permitted from accessory to duplex. Would that be reflected in the tax bill or other documents?

In my area, you're much more likely to find an older home which is built before 1960. What have you found to be your cut off in age of property, where it no longer seems like an opportunity due to anticipated problems? Does it depend on how well the property was cared for in many cases?

My wife and I are looking to get our first multi property to buy and hold. Ran across this one and wondering your take on if this is worth looking into further. We were debating on using BRRRR on the property with a 203k.

$599,999
5bd/2ba duplex
Unfinished basement
Finished livable attic
$13.7k taxes

1921 built Lemon on sfh block in sfh town. Former accessory, rezoned to owner occupied multi just before listing. Delivered Tenant free.

7 min walk/2 min drive to major public transportation hub. 2 min drive to local highway. 6 min drive to interstate. Extremely low crime area.

Only 2 other rentals in the area: 

$3600 2bd/1ba home

$4k 4bd/2ba home

Comps $625-849 depending on age of the home. New construction 1.2MM

Needs 2/3 reno, 1/3 cosmetic.

Saw cracks in outer cement wall as well as higher on the wall towards the ceiling interior and where the ceiling and wall join together. Separate meters.

Property seems to have been relisted 12 times since May 2020. Originally listing for $449,999 in 2020. Bumped to $579 in 2021, then just relisted again 3 days ago for $599.

Havent spoken to any contractors or structural engineers as of yet. Just viewed the house 2 days ago. Wondering if this is a possible gem or seemingly pyrite...

Awesome information! Thanks so much for the links. I will check them out. So they would essentially be saying that they wpuld be blocking the local municipalities from making banning the zoning switches right? It's so weird not being from here. Where I'm from, we seemingly can do what we want for the most part. Many more rules in every part of everything here. Are there certain lingo we should look out for to tip us off to it not being a true multi but an accessory instead?

Some of you may have seen this post before because i accidentally posted it in the general one instead of here. 

I've been doing research after seeing so many accessory apartments listed as multifamilies in long island. After understanding the nuances and history more, I'm wondering, are there certain towns or hamlets in long island that only allow accessories vs duplexes in nassau and suffolk? Does anybody know which areas of long island may not allow duplexes or number-plexes below a 6-plex? We're essentially trying to rule out anyplace that only allows accessories to help narrow our investment property search.

Also aside from certain key words like accessory apt and number of meters, what are some other tricks to spoting a property that is a true multi family investment opportunity vs an accessory listed as a multi family?

Quote from @Sean Toomey:

Hi we have a great REIA on Long Island. We offer free zoom calls (Intro to Real Estate Investing Zoom call is TONIGHT). We also do a LIVE meet up at the Huntington Hilton in Melville Long Island on the second Wednesday of the month. Our next one is scheduled for February 9th. Your first meet up is always FREE. We bring in national speakers from across the country, and we also have lots of LOCAL experts who are doing all different types of real estate investing deals. Feel free to reach out if you would like some more information.

My wife and I are just getting a footing in the market in long island. Would love to pick your brain if you have some time at some point? I'll also check out the site in regards to what the next meet up event is.