Is it legal in 2011-12 to give a mortgage for a house with 2 secondary suites?

[gideon]

I'm looking to buy a house that has 2 separately metered but attached secondary suites(which have had a wall removed to combine them) and a full tiny little house (<500sqft) on the property with a kitchen and HVAC. I was talking to a man in the mortgage biz who said that FEDERAL LAW had changed to absolutely dis-allow mortgages on multi-family properties and they are most often decided by the number of kitchens with an exception for an extra kitchen for maids quarters.

This main house has three kitchens (one down, one up and one in the pool room) one kitchen in each secondary suite and one kitchen in the separate shack.

I want this house bad, its footage is well into five digits, and its well under one quarter of its apraisal value. Can some one tell me if there is a legal reason a bank would be unable to mortgage this property?

The property and I are in North Texas

[leland]

There is no legal reason why a lender could not offer a mortgage on the property and I think you misunderstood the person who you spoke to before. I think the man was thinking in the sense that the type of mortgage you would need has changed rather than the mere ability to get the loan. The mortgage you would need would be one designed for an investment property even if you opted to live in one of the units yourself.

The bottom line is you need to go sit down with a lender and write up an offer on the property. The loan will be a contingency of the offer so if it doesn't work out you get your good faith money back and part friends.