Hamilton Zoning

[jhemlow]

Hi,

I`m very new to this website and I have a question that is probably pretty basic. I`ve been looking at places around an area near a university. Many of the places don`t `work` from what I can tell with my current finacial position however I have a question about them. Many of them say "vendor does not warrent use" or "Buyer to confirm zoning" or "Zoned as single family". My question is, is there a way to `change` the zoning of your house? Or this a common thing for people to rent out rooms in houses that are not zoned correctly? I assume this would be a huge liablity if heaven forbid there was a fire or someone was hurt in the house?

Thanks for your help

Jason

 

[Kimberly]

Jason:
Many homes around universities are typically used to house students and some landlords try to get as many bedrooms ie paying tenants in a house as possible. Depending on the city you are looking at, each has their own city bylaws on student housing so you should contact the city.

To my understanding, zoned as single family, you can still have x number of students renting out x bedrooms. The issues arise if you put in an additional suite, with a separate kitchen. You may be able to run a single family home with a second kitchen, but either disgruntled tenants or more likely neighbours may inform the city, and they may come in and tell you to remove the stove, ie the second suite becomes unusable. Could cause problems with your tenants who you already have a tenancy agreement with. It`s not the renting out of the rooms in houses that are not zoned correctly... it`s the number of independent apartments - which seem to be counted based on the number of kitchens - that cause the zoning infractions.

Cities frown on too many people in a house, especially students, due to noise, parking on lawns or streets where parking not permitted, too much garbage, possible fire hazards etc. Neighbours in these areas that are non-student rentals also carry weight with the city in keeping their neighbourhoods reasonably safe and quiet.

It is up to your own due diligence by checking yourself with the city on the zoning initially and then by definately having your lawyer verify the zoning or you could leave it all up to your lawyer, with a clause in your offer stipulating offer contingent on lawyers approval. Then when you know the zoning and want to run the property outside the zoning, then you`ll know the possible consequences as you would`ve alredy checked out the city by laws.

As for changing the zoning... your lawyer, one who knows the city you are considering the investment in, will give you a good indication on your chances of getting it thru the city planning dept, based on their experience. Again different cities have their own propensity to change zoning....or not. You will have to weigh your time, costs and aggravation.

Best to check with your lawyer and the city to get the exact designation of the property you are considering. It`s every investors responsibility to know the law and then you can make your own business decision on what works for you.

Hopes this helps...

 

[jhemlow]

Thank you very much for the thorough apply. It helped me out a lot

Jason

 

[BobHudson]

In addition to the zoning issue, another student rental consideration is insurance. Some insurance companies refuse to provide insurance on student rental properties and others will provide it but at a price much steeper than single family. You need to look in to this up front as it will have an impact on your cash flow calculations.