Almost lost my deposit on a house in Portland because of one stupid mistake

Last week I put an offer on a place in Portland and almost lost my 5 grand deposit because I forgot to check the zoning for short term rentals. The seller was a guy flipping houses and he didn't mention the city changed the rules 3 years ago about Airbnb type stuff. I found out after I signed the papers when my realtor called me panicking about a violation notice. Now I have to wait 2 months for a hearing and might not even get to rent it out. Has anyone else dealt with surprise zoning issues after putting money down?

3 comments

3 Comments

holly_reed5510d ago

Gotta say I see this a bit differently. Doing your own research on zoning isn't just the realtor's job, it's basic due diligence when you're putting serious money down. The city rules didn't change overnight, they were posted for 3 years so a quick check online or a call to the planning office would have caught this before you signed.

seth_shah10d ago

Eh is it really that big a deal unless you're building something crazy.

rose_reed10d agoProlific Poster

Yeah I actually read an article about this recently that said most cities have public records available online for zoning changes. It talked about how people rely way too much on their realtor to catch everything and then get stuck when something slips through. Idk maybe it's just me but it seems like a quick 15 minute research sesh could save you from a huge headache later.