Combining properties (appraiser, investment, mortgage, mortgages)

[jean_ji]

We have a house on three lots and bought the adjacent 2.5 lots. We paid cash for the lots and have a mortgage on the house. We are wanting to combine the properties and just learned we would need to refinance per Freddie Mac that bought our mortgage from our credit union. The only exception they will make is if our town or county is requiring us to combine the lots. They are not, we want to build a free standing garage on the lot and combine. Has anyone else run into this? We live in FL.

[davebarnes]

Refi and find someone who does not sell the mortgage.

[Pfhtex]

I actually had adjacent lots combined without refinancing, for a VA client in Pinellas County. The house on the parcel, with the mortgage, and a free-and-clear adjacent lot. It takes a little sweet-talking at the Zoning Department.

Who told you that the refi is required? (technically it is, but then again, it's Florida.)

Having said that - if you add land to your parcel and refinance, the new value might result in more favorable terms on your mortgage. Depends where you are now, in regard to how many months left to pay it off, and what the terms are right now.

Also you can use a mortgage product to finance the build of the structure unless you have a plan for that.

[Diana Holbrook]

The refinance would be because the legal description of the property will change.

[dontaskwhy]

If the lots are adjacent, why couldn't you build the garage on one of the other lots and keep the home on a separate lot ? Interesting situation. You might contact your property appraiser's office for some advice.

[james777]

I would not ask a property appraiser for the time of day. Go to an attorney who specializes in land title work and real estate closings.

[turf3]

Seems like a lot of trouble for no value. Just pay three tax bills instead of one. Heck, the place we own that's made of two adjacent parcels, plus the third one that's a mile or two away, the county tax office puts all three bills in one envelope; we write one check for the total and send them back the three stubs in one envelope, and there's never been an issue.


Is there some reason I don't understand that you want to combine three lots into one? For that matter, what if someday down the road you need to raise money? You could sell one. Big hassle to split them back up after having gone through a big hassle to unite them.

[Ken_N]

I know in my town according to the building code, you cannot put an accessory building like a garage on a property that does not have a primary residence/building. This could be a reason to combine the properties.

If this is true, another path would be to go to the town committee and ask for a variance/exception.

[jean_ji]

Thanks for all the comments. My first mistake was thinking this would be simple. To combine lots, our county requires written permission from the mortgage holder. Freddie Mac will not agree to it unless it is refi’d as one property, or if our county is requiring lots to be combined. Our option is to leave it as is or continue with the combining process.

We didn’t buy the lots as an investment with thoughts of selling later, we want to use it. It would be easier to leave things as they are, but we will be able to homestead the entire combined lot, which has advantages beyond tax savings in FL.

We are looking into refinancing now or just paying off our remaining mortgage. Finding someone that doesn’t resell mortgages isn’t important to us. Our credit union is still the servicer for our mortgage and they are excellent, which is important. Usually institutions that resell to Fannie or Freddie Mac can offer lower APR’s and our credit union had the lowest rate and closing costs seven years ago.