What is a multi-family home? A single building or lot with two or more separate homes on it, each with its own entrance, kitchen and bathroom: duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and above four units, apartment buildings.
The line that matters is at four units. Two to four units is residential multi-family for lending: a buyer can live in one unit and rent the others, finance the whole property with an ordinary owner-occupied mortgage (FHA allows 3.5 percent down on up to four units, and counts most of the rental income toward qualifying), and treat it as a home with a side business. Five units and up is commercial multi-family: commercial loans with larger down payments and shorter terms, valued on the income the building produces rather than on comparable home sales.
The small multi-family home is the classic first investment because the tenants pay most or all of the mortgage while the owner lives there, and the county record shows the unit count directly. Kouzr's duplex and fourplex pages read it from the assessor's parcel data rather than from the listing's description, which is how a house with a converted garage is kept off them.
What to check that a single-family buyer does not: the current leases and rents, whether the units are legal (permitted and zoned, not a garage conversion), separate or shared utility metering, and the state's landlord and tenant law, which the owner is now subject to from the day of closing.
A worked example
A fourplex lists at $780,000 with each unit renting for $1,350. A buyer moves into one unit with an FHA loan at 3.5 percent down; the lender counts 75 percent of the three other rents ($3,038) toward income, and the $4,050 of rent covers most of a $5,300 monthly payment. The owner lives for about $1,250 a month in a home they are paying off.
Multi-family homes for sale in Las Vegas
Questions people ask
Is a duplex a multi-family home?
Yes. Two to four units is residential multi-family and can be bought with an ordinary owner-occupied mortgage. Five or more units is commercial.
Is a house with a casita a multi-family home?
Usually not for lending: a casita or accessory unit on a single-family lot is a single-family home with an extra unit. The county's unit count and the zoning decide it, and a garage conversion without permits is neither.