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Rehabbing & House Flipping

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Two-Family to Three-Family Conversion & Rehabbing

Posted Mar 22 2023, 07:46

Hi everyone! I’ve got a few questions related to a real estate project I’m undertaking over the next few months, and thought there may be some people on the BP forums who’ve either had experience with similar projects, or might have general thoughts and recommendations they’d be willing to share for my situation. I’ve always appreciated the openness and helpfulness of the BP community, so thanks in advance to all who take the time to read this.

The basic information is that I own a two-family home in Derby, CT, which used to be a three-family (the top two floors were connected by a previous owner to make one two-floor unit). Right now, I’m househacking and living on the second floor of the property while renting out the bottom unit. I’d like to separate the top two floors to again make it a legal three family, so I can continue living on the second floor but rent the other two units to two tenants rather than one. My eventual plan is to move out of this property entirely (hopefully into another duplex to again househack), and rent out each floor of this property, since I believe that will provide more flexibility and overall cash flow from the place. I’ve already had several conversations with the Zoning and Building offices at Derby’s City Hall, and confirmed that three-family homes are a permitted special exception use in the zone where the property is located. They’ve informed me that after I submit some documents and diagrams of certain parts of the house, and scale drawings of my planned renovations, the conversion should be able to be approved. However, since this is the first time I’ve undertaken a project like this, I still have some questions that I was hoping the collective knowledge of BP users might be able to answer. Right now, the info I’m trying to source is:

• Names of zoning attorneys in the Fairfield/New Haven area who could help with communicating with the Building and Zoning offices and facilitating the process of the rezoning (I’m not positive that I’ll need to retain legal help at this point, but would still appreciate any suggestions in case it seems like the best option)

• Recommendations for contractors with experience and/or specializing in multifamily work (including GCs; electricians; HVAC companies; plumbers; etc). I’d love to be able to start work as quickly as possible once the approval itself has been finalized, so I’ve begun obtaining quotes, and would love to expand that list if anybody here has positive experiences with companies that might have missed my attention.

• Suggestions for diagramming software/applications, or best practices for drawing layout diagrams and housing plans. I’ve already made a scale diagram of the house floor plans by hand, but was hoping to use a diagramming application to make it look more professional, with more exact measurements/scaling.

I realize that’s a lot to toss out there, so whatever responses people might have to any of those bullet points would be really appreciated. And if there are other things that I’ve not thought about that others have run into during this kind of a process, I’d welcome any and all thoughts. Anyways, thanks again, and I appreciate whatever advice and info people are willing to share!

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Samuel Eddinger
  • Meriden, CT
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Samuel Eddinger
  • Meriden, CT
Replied Mar 23 2023, 05:28

Talk to the town.  Generally they know of lawyers that help people with zoning.  If they cannot give you any names, ask who has been representing people in recent zoning applications.  If they still don't have that or are unwilling to share, ask for the P&Z meeting notes (those should be public record) and see who has helped.

I've done the work to rezone something from a SFR to a two family. I just asked for advice and was directed to the building department and zoning departments. As long as I followed what they requested, it was not that hard. See if you can do the same or if you truly need a special exception.

On the contractor situation, you are just going to have to keep calling around until you get someone that you are comfortable with.  Remember that the lowest price is generally not the best option.

You do not have to do fancy diagrams when providing stuff to the building/zoning departments.  Hand sketches (as long they are clear and legible) work perfectly fine.

Happy to have a conversation if you want.  I'm in CT so I have state specific knowledge.  DM me if interested.

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Ryan Tessier
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Fairfield, CT
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Ryan Tessier
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Fairfield, CT
Replied Mar 24 2023, 07:11

Hi Dan, I'm an investor in Ansonia and Derby as well, I may have some contractors I can recommend for your project if you'd like to DM me. I haven't fully gone through the permitting process myself but in the past I was looking for architects, not lawyers, to draw plans and get town approval, they aren't cheap. You can do this process yourself and town hall will walk you through everything they need once you start your application, the software I was trained on and a lot of professionals use to draw up plans is AutoCAD Architecture or Revit. Both from AutoDesk, they are not cheap and usually take some training to use effectively but they work very well.

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Replied Mar 25 2023, 15:58

Hi Sam and Ryan - great to meet you both! And thanks very much to both of you for the responses.

@Samuel Eddinger - Great thought on asking the Zoning office itself for recommendations on attorneys; I'll be sure to do that. That's also reassuring to hear that your process applying for the SFR to duplex conversion wasn't overly complicated - here's hoping the same applies in this case! According to the zoning laws I've read and the people at the office I've spoken with, it seems like there shouldn't be much more needed after these drawings are submitted. I've had some good experience with a couple of contractors, and agree with you that price was a factor but certainly not the deciding one. Also, I appreciate the invitation to talk further - I'll be sure to send a DM if something comes up. I'm always interested in learning from the expertise of others, especially given that you're local to CT and know the state. Thanks again!

@Ryan Tessier - Nice to hear from a fellow Valley investor! Ansonia was on my list of possible areas to invest, too, as well as Shelton. I appreciate you mentioning the cost-prohibitive nature of actually hiring an architect for plans; that was my gut feeling, and it’s helpful to have you confirm it. I’ve heard of AutoCAD but agree that it would be a lot of legwork to become comfortable with the app just for the sake of a handful of drawings. For now, I’ve been using an iPad app called Morpholio Trace, which isn’t as full-featured as AutoCAD but covers the essentials just fine, and has some helpful features, like easily creating scaled grids and smart measuring tools. Hopefully, like Sam mentioned in his reply, as long as the Zoning officer is flexible with the drawings being measured sketches that I produced myself, the process can keep moving forward and I can get to finalizing the contractor details. If there’s someone you’ve worked with in the Valley area, I’d welcome any recs - thanks again for replying!