Single w/ Accessory apt vs Legal 2 Family (Huntington: apartments, to rent)

[jking1337]

There is a house I want to buy in suffolk county that is a single family with second apartment on top floor. Is there any way I can convert this single w/ accessory to legal 2 unit? It is zoned for 1 or 2 family residence and has humongous lot for the extra family.

The reason is that while I would want to live there for first say 3 -5 years, I might need a bigger home later on and would probably not want to sell it, or at least go through the pain of selling it. I'd rather buy another property and rent out this one just to cover the mortgage and taxes.

I just dont want to be chained down and have to wait 5 months to sell, or sell something that I think is a good home.

I don't care if they raise the taxes, but if they increase it to an extent that is nonsensical, then I will sell it.

For example, in nyc your house is 700k for 2 unit. In LI it is 500k, but LI has 15k tax and NYC has 5k tax, so the difference comes out to 10k in tax which is about ~ $833. The difference in price, 200k, on mortgage of 4.7% is about 1037. The difference here is that $833 is going to mr. taxman and $1037 is going to you/bank.

City tax is countered since the commute is just as costly I'd imagine, unless you live in LI and invest somewhere else and not pay city tax on that 2nd/3rd income.

[TomMoser]

Most towns are very difficult about granting two family status. For example, here in the Town of Huntington, there are a small number of remaining non-owner occupied accessory apartment permits. However, when those houses are sold, they will only renew them if they are owner occupied. I doubt very much that they would allow a conversion to a legal two family.

[jking1337]

Tom,

Why would they not allow it? I believe the status of a 2 family, 3 family, x-family code has to meet certain zoning and regulation requirements, as it does in NYC.

Wouldn't that mean that if you can get the house up to code, they would have to convert it? How on earth does the town have any say whatsoever about this kind of stuff? The town doesn't own the homes, the homeowners do.

[TomMoser]

Welcome to Long Island! The towns have a preference for homeowners over renters. Many allow "accessory apartments", but there are several requirements, including that the owner lives in the rest of the house. The original concept for allowing this was to help older home owners afford staying in their homes, because of the high taxes. Ironic.

[Shepherd56]

Accessory apartments has recently become a subject very near and dear to my heart. I have heard many arguments both pro and con on whether the laws should be more lenient or stricter on the requirements to qualify. If someone would have asked me about 3 years ago how I felt I would have said that provided all safety requirements are met, homeowners should be allowed to rent a part of their home if they want to and no one should be allowed to dictate otherwise. Unfortunately, recent circumstances have made me reconsider this stand.

I have lived in my family home all my life. My neighborhood is quiet, peaceful and although we ban together when events occur (like super storm Sandy), everyone minds their own business. Even though the streets are public domain, the “etiquette” of the neighborhood has always been parking your respective cars in either your driveway or in front of your house; the obvious exception would be if someone is having a party in which case everyone is tolerant. This is still the norm except for one house on the block – the only one with a “tenant” who unfortunately lives right next store to me. This tenant has two cars and continually parks them directly in front of my house; they do not even make an effort to park close to the house they reside in.

I recently put out my recycling which had accumulated to a decent amount of cardboard and containers because I had an injury to my knee that prevented me from putting them to the curb for about two weeks. In front of my side gate, I placed one full box in the street against the curb so that people would not be able to block my recycling with their car and then I placed the other two boxes on the lawn directly behind the one in the street. Needless to say I was shocked when I came home to find I was the only house on the block that did not have my recycling picked up. As I started to remove it from the curb and bring it back inside my property, I noticed that the box I placed in the street had been moved to the lawn. At that point it was not hard to finish the puzzle; my thoughtless and inconsiderate neighbors “tenants” moved the box so they could park there which blocked my recycling from the view of the drivers; they did not see it therefore they did not pick it up.

I think when homeowners decide to rent out an “illegal” apartment, they need to establish certain rules with the tenants. For the last 3 years I have ignored the initial and constant noise during the buildout of the unit that jarred me out of my sleep on Saturday and Sunday mornings for about 3-4 weeks. I have ignored the constant moving in and out of new tenants and I have tolerated some of the parking issues but this was the last straw. I gain no financial consideration from the tenants living there so I refuse to be forced to tolerate the inconvenience of their inconsiderate behavior. I work in Manhattan and I commute 4 hours a day (if there are no issues); my home should be my “safe haven” my place of rest and enjoyment but instead it has turned into a battle of wills. Although I hated to do it, I had no choice but to advise the town via an anonymous phone call that I believe the apartment in the home is an illegal one. They will perform an investigation and if it turns out to be illegal, the tenants will have to leave and the homeowners could be fined. I personally think that if you are doing something you know is wrong the worst thing you can do is draw attention to it. Both the homeowners and the tenants could have enjoyed a lengthy tenancy if they had just a modicum of respect for the neighbors.

I still think these type of living arrangements have merit and are a real solution for some folks but you have to remember that not all people behave reasonably or do the right thing. When someone decides to annoy another neighbor who owns their own home, the tenants may have more significant issues to deal with other than parking and the homeowners could face expensive fines – especially if it can be demonstrated that they have been renting for awhile.

[kevink1955]

My Village as part of the 2 Family permit process requires license plate numbers of the tenants vehicles, 2 off street tenant parking spaces are to be provided as well as 2 off street owner spaces. Tenant vehicles are not permitted to park on the street, they must use the provided off street spaces.


Do they regularly enforce the parking regulations NO but if a problem develops and you push hard enough they will.