Splitting a house into 2

Splitting a house into 2

Real Estate Professional · Olympia, WA · Member since 2014 · 2 posts · 0 votes

This is my first rental. I really appreciate any advice.

I just won a bid for a HUD house. 2200 sq feet one story house 5 beds and 3 bath and one kitchen for $140,000. The house has 4 entry doors. Neighborhood has a mixture of single and multi family houses. My house payment would be around $900.

My question is can I (or should I) split the house into 2 units by building a wall? I would have to build kitchen for one unit. I don't want to separate the plumbing, electric, HVAC as it would cost too much. If I split the house like that I would have to include electric and water, cable and internet to rent. I'll going to city to a ask. But I'd like hear your thought on it first.

My other option is I'll build a another bedroom by building walls in one of the large living room. Making it 6 bedroom house. I would rent the rooms for $450 each. I have About 7 years of experience in renting out 5 bedrooms in my house ( I live in 6th room). I know renting out rooms in house I don't live in is much harder. I'm thinking I'll pay one of the tenant $200 a month to clean and manage it.

Thank you in advance for an advice.

Alex

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  • Roy N.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Fredericton, New Brunswick · Member since 2013 · 7k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    9y

    Alex:

    You have two questions to answer:

    Can I split this SFH into multiple units? - You will need to first check zoning to confirm that this property is a) zoned for multiple units and b) meets the lot-size requirements for multiple units.  Next you should have someone with the needed expertise (contractor, engineer, architect) examine the house to see how it could be divided - depending on how the house is built, you can end-up with some strange layouts when you start sub-dividing a house.

    Should I split this SFH into multiple units? - If it turns out, you can split the house into multiple units, it does not necessarily follow that you should sub-divided the house.  You need to determine if it makes business sense to proceed:  

    • what will be the costs (zoning changes, permits, materials and labour) to divide the house?
    • what will be the incremental return realized from the subdivided house - versus leaving it as an SFH?
    • what will be the payback on the subdivision and what would be the overall return on the subdivided house versus leaving it as a SFH over the same time period?
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