Chicago · 2 to 4 unit buildings
Five questions. One conversation, five questions, and you will know if an agent really works with small buildings.
First, the words. A 2 to 4 unit building is a small apartment building: a 2-flat, 3-flat or 4-flat. Most of the country calls the two unit kind a duplex. Buying one is buying a home and a small business in one deal. The agent interview should match, so here is what to ask, and what a good answer sounds like.
You want a number, not a story. An agent who lives in these buildings knows it off the top of their head. A few every month and one, two years ago are very different answers.
An agent who owns one has picked a tenant, signed a lease, and taken the call when the sink leaks. That experience shows up in the buildings they steer you toward and the ones they walk you past. This is the most telling question on the list.
Ask them to open a live listing and show you four numbers: what the units rent for, what the building costs to run, what the loan costs each month, and what is left over. The best agents go one step further and teach you to run those numbers yourself, so you can spot a good deal on your own. That is how we work, and it is the difference between shopping and guessing.
Chicago answers this in writing. When a small building sells, the city checks its records and issues a paper stating how many apartments are legal at that address. There is also a free city zoning map anyone can check on day one. An agent who works these buildings pulls the zoning before you fall in love with the building. If this question gets a blank look, keep interviewing.
Your agent is not your lender, but they should know the shape of the math. If you live in one unit, a regular loan goes down to 5% on buildings up to four units, and rent from the other units can count toward what you qualify for. An agent who knows that cold will also know the lenders who close these loans every month, the attorneys who handle small buildings, and the inspectors who know hundred year old brick. The right agent fills every other seat on your team.
Interview two or three agents and ask all five questions. The right one will enjoy answering them, because these are the questions their favorite clients ask.
And yes, we are happy to be one of the interviews. Reach out and ask us all five. You do not need to know exactly what you want yet. Most people who reach out don't.