Adaptive reuse and infill housing are code words for the rehabilitation of exiting urban buildings where the former use is no longer viable or the buildings are damaged and abandoned. You are looking at an urban land use program which I doubt applies to your project unless you have bought an abandoned building. You should be looking at the City of Ashville Zoning ordinance as linked below. Sec. 7-5-4. "Uses by right, subject to special requirements" says in an RS8 district you can built a single-family dwelling on a min. 5,000 s.f. lot with a min, 50 ft lot width, a min. front setback of 15 ft, a min. side setbacks of 6 ft, a min. rear setback 15 ft, and a max. height of 40 ft. There are other requirements regarding open space and landscaping as well. The dwelling can have one accessory apartment with a max. gross floor area of 500 s.f. or 25% of the area of the principal single-family dwelling, which ever is greater. But the apartment area cannot be greater than 50% of the principal single-family dwelling area. It appears a duplex is allowed but it s a Conditional use requiring an unusual amount of review by the Planning and Zoning Commission as well as public hearings and approval of the City Council. You are treating this issue as if it were uncomplicated and not worthy of expert assistance at this point in the project. I do this for a living and I assure you that your approach is a serious mistake. If you want to go this route hire a zoning lawyer or an architect and avoid the inevitable red herrings and wild goose chases. I make no representation of the accuracy of the above information; that costs extra. Here is a link that might be useful: Ashville Zoning Ordinance

Hi Muddbelly, Sorry to hijack here saphire, but Dave - where do you think rates will be after those 2-3 years (say late 2009)? Well... while my crystal ball is a little foggy, and I let the insurance on it lapse..... I believe that mortgage interest rates are going to remain flat, within a range of roughly 1/2% of where they are today, for a long, long time. If you have 5% for another 28 months, I would recommend leaving that alone, and making hay while the sun shines by aggressively stuffing every additional discretionary dollar you can into your tax-deferred and tax-free retirement vehicles. Hi Cmarlin, (I think you jumped threads (this is from elsewhere, no?...) but I'll answer here nonetheless.) I am also considering buying a 4 unit bldg (not owner occupied) I also do not have verifiable income. I live on investments, so there is a history, but I do not have much income on my tax returns. OK, you need to qualify using a special program process called "Self-Employed Investor, Stated Income." Does the lender look at the bldg as they do on larger multi-family, will the rate be better if I do not go above a four unit as opposed to a larger mix. Yes... both rates and terms are preferential at a 4-unit level than at 5+ units. I have good Ficos and about 50% down. Will I have a problem getting a mortgage? You shouldn't... at 50% down it ought to fly through OK. Cheers, Dave Donhoff Strategic Equity & Mortgage Planner

It's my fault the thread's so confusing. I was researching "multiple offers" and then, when I went to ask my own question, I goofed and posted to the old thread. Now people are responding to OP and not reading through to find my goof. The bidding war was really only a short skirmish. We ask 495K. Couple No. 1 offers 450K. Against DH's better judgment--we have nice home across from a lake and DH thinks we should get close to asking--we counter 475K bc I keep hearing first offer is often best offer, buyer's mkt, etc etc. Then, as if to prove DH right, Couple No. 2 shows up like the cavalry, falls in love with house, promises "very attractive offer" but it's evening now and they're leaving town next morning and feel they can't write it up for a few days. That's when I post here. I read responses, chant "bird in hand, bird in hand" to DH. He hands me big glass of wine, tells me we are withdrawing 475K offer before Couple No. 1 accepts it. Couple No. 1 comes back next day with new offer of 490K and super tight response deadline. We tell Couple No. 2's agent what's going on. From airport on their way home Couple No. 2 calls, says they'll beat it. Couple No. 2 lands, drives directly from airport to our house, their agent meets them. While we huddle in br, they sit in our dining rm, write up cash offer of 496K, only contingency is structural inspection. Meanwhile Couple No. 1's agent is calling, asking what's going on. Finally, we call him back, say we're taking the 496K. He says Couple No. 1 might beat that; we say no thanks--we're content and find the back and forth draining. A better businessperson would have kept going, I suppose, but we'd gotten what we wanted and didn't want to tempt the fates any more than we already had. Now we're holding our breath till inspection is over with.

Mori - one issue to consider with the roses that didn't come back (Moondance and Oregold) is the timing of when they were planted. I don't have very much luck with any planting in the fall, even big pots - I stop planting in June. In our zones, roses need to put down a good root system before the winter to survive, particularly if the canes aren't hardy and it needs to regrow from the ground. Beyond that, Oregold is a particularly weak grower, and I've never gotten it to overwinter regardless. I've had a Moondance for about 6 years but it finally faded and died this last winter and wasn't particularly robust. Blue Girl grows well for me and is worth another try if it doesn't show some life. I usually wait to at least mid-June before I decide if a rose isn't going to come back from the dead. Some roses (like Double Delight) can take that long to put up canes. Cynthia