Converting a duplex to a single-family

[Sam Dangremond]

Hello!

I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts about converting a duplex to a single family home?

My situation: I have a house under contract, it was a duplex (2/1 with ~1,200 sq and 1/1 with ~ 800 sq) but the seller knocked down a wall to make it a continuous living area and rented it as a single family.  It still has two gas meters and two power meters.  I'm buying the house as-is for cash.  

The reason I ask: I'd like to do a cash-out refi in 6 months to get my equity back, but I'm not sure if the duplex/single situation will make that difficult.

So, should I take out the second gas and electric meters to fully convert it to a single-family? Can I leave the meters there, because it doesn't matter? Put the wall back up so it's back to a duplex?

Any suggestions are welcome.  Thanks!

[Account Closed]

Most of the rehabs we have been doing the past few years have been duplex into SFH conversions. We always run new electric into one, usually 200 amp, service. We usually leave the second gas meter and just use the one. I have seen them before where they still used both gas meters.

I cannot say if you should keep it a SFH or convert back to a duplex. You need to figure the optimal use for that property. Usually in our market, converting and flipping in the retail market will provide the most gains. In your market, maybe a 2 family rental makes more sense. I don't know.