Posted by Paul_MA on July 11, 2001 at 01:37:13:
Don’t stay away, pursue. These are the type of problems that create big payoffs, if you can solve the problem, provided there is one.
First, you want to be certain that both properties are within the bounds of the lot.
Second, check with zoning. You may be in a 2 family zoning district. Explain what you found. They are usually very helpful.
Third, check with the building department. Some cities/towns have good records of permits that allowed construction of the buildings.
Then, there is the possibility that the agent heard or read that the property is “legal non-conforming” and didn’t understand what that meant. It means that today you may need 10000 sqft of land to build a house on, and the current lot size is 5000 sqft. Back in the early 1900’s, anything was buildable.
I recently had a young real estate agent show me 2 houses on one lot. His pitch was "buy em, fix em, split the lot up the middle, and sell em for XXX amount of dollars EACH. When I checked with zoning, they said “no way” and “not likely to get a zoning variance”.
Technically, I know he shouldn’t have told me that.
Hope this helps