Need Advice to Purchase 5 or 6 Unit and Convert to Micro-Units

[Marielle Walter]

Hi all! I have invested in single family real estate before, but have never looked into commercial real estate. I have done a lot of research on the micro-unit concept and beleive it will be a lucrative rental model for me in Washington, DC, where I am based, and Boston, MA area where I travel often. I am looking for agents with their own experience buying and renting apartment buildings (it is important to me i find someone that already has deep expertise since I do not), as well as advice on how to go about getting financing, and also anyone with experience with Micro-units or interest in partnering on a micro-unit venture. I hope to buy something between 2 units and 5 or 6 units and renovate to have closer to 4 (if renovating a 2 unit) to 8 to 10 units (if renovation and 5/6 unit). Guidance on zoning is appreciated too. 

[Russell Brazil]

DC only has 1 building of Micro Units (that I am aware of). So no one in the market is going to have a ton of experience with them. The one building of them had about 15 units, and demand was not high for them. It took them a long time to sell even though they were at a low price point for the neighborhood they were in, and a high demand neighborhood.