House hacking - A legal two family that was once a single family

[Olivia McAleese]

I currently have a legal two-family under contract that was originally a single family home. I am trying to anticipate the issues this will present down the line.

1. The townhouse style part has four beds and a living room with a door. I'm thinking of doing the rent by the room strategy and to rent out all five rooms, but I want to make sure that is legal. I heard a rumor that Providence has a legal limit on the number of people who are unrelated who can live in a single unit together. The law was apparently created to prevent over-populated/unsafe student housing, where shoul I look to confirm/refute this?

2. Because the house was originally a single-family, it's plumbing, electrics, utilities etc. are all shared between the two units. I am trying to anticipate the issues this may present, like for example how do I charge the tenants utilities? Is that even allowed or do I have to build that into the rent. I spoke to my agent he suggested calling national grid to determine the average annual cost for gas and electricity and dividing it by square footage in the house. How do I confirm this is legal?

[Luan Oliveira]

Hi Olivia,

I HIGHLY recommend you call the zoning department or going in person to check to see if it's a legal 2 family. Don't rely on what the assessor's database says. The fact that it has only one set of utilities leads me to believe it may not let legally a single family per zoning, but I could be wrong. Anyways, it's always good to double check. 

As for billing tenants, you're probably better off just charging higher renta to offset the costs.