I recently placed this duplex under contract with a client looking for a great investment bargain. The property has two separate 1 bedroom units in an up-and-down configuration. The structure was build around 1950. This was a bank owned property and our negotiations settled at a price of $57,000.
Once we got into our due diligence though, we had a major problem. A phone call to Ogden City Zoning shows that this duplex does not have a non-conforming use certificate. Although clearly a single family home that was subivided into a duplex decades ago, the previous owners did it without property application to the city. Therefore, the property was not grandfathered the use.
Then, another client and I were shopping for a property and placed this triplex under contract:
This bank owend property had three mailboxes at the curb that are also decades old. Yet, during our due diligence we discover that South Ogden City has only permitted the home for use as a duplex. So where has city zoning enforcement been all these years? Who knows.
The cities do appear to be in an enforcement mood however. The glut of bank owned properties make it politically palatable to be so while not provoking the ire of owner occupants that would otherwise inhabit the property. It's best to get the enforcement done while the property is vacant and the owner is a faceless corporation thousands of miles away.
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I am under contract to buy a home that was converted to a duplex in the 1950's. Like your clients, I discovered that the city now suddenly cares about the house's designation (currently single family home), despite the fact that it--and all but one home on the block--are all very obviously duplex and triplexs, and despite the fact that the house was bought and sold many times in the last three years, without a hitch. This is super frustrating, and is messing up both my FHA loan and my Own in Ogden funding.
The good news is that the city seems to be open to changing the house's designation from single family home to duplex. I haven't gotten final approval yet, but so far they are sounding positive. It appears to be a paperwork problem more than a "the city doesn't want renters!!! problem." If your clients can prove (with letters from neighbors and/or the Polk directory) that the house has been a multi-plex since 1951, and fill out a form at the municipal building, the people at Ogden's planning office say they will issue a "legal conforming certificate" and turn the house officially into a duplex/triplex.
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