Posted by David Krulac on March 26, 2005 at 18:15:38:
each zoning is different, but many places around here have in there most restrictive single family zoning that “no more than 3 unrelated people can occupy the house.” There was a recent case wheer somebody built a new 6 bedroom house and rented rooms to long distant truckers. There were no truck at the house and usually half the rucker were on the road. The town went to court got a court order and condemned the house. BTW it was not me. Additional some contend that this is also a way to legislate out group homes or at least restrict them. so far I’m not aware of any court challenge to that type of zoning for group homes.
I live in Seattle and would like to start converting split-level houses into separate living units to rent out. This would definitely help with the cashflow. I have a few questions and hope you guys could help me out.
How costly is it to get separate electrical and water meters for each “unit”?
Is it possible to convert a SFR into legal duplex? How can one do this?
One of the houses I currently own has very low water pressure and thus it won’t be able to sufficiently support 2 families. How costly is it to increase the water pressure?
How costly is it to create a better sound barrier between the two units to increase privacy?
Your thought would be greatly appreciated. You don’t have to answer all questions
Brian, why not just rent out each bedroom instead? Three or four roommates per house at $500-$600 each (you can charge extra for garage use) would give you $2000 - $2400 a month from each house. Isn’t that much more than what renting out a duplex would net you?
All rehab costs should be deferred to local contractors. Go to Lowes and go to the contractors desk and ask for recommendations. Then call up and ask for ballpark figures. They vary for whatever region of the country one lives in, so it’s hard to guesstimate.
To convert a SFH into a duplex reuires passing all zoning requirements, which may require rehabbing the house to bring it up to code.
If your water pressure is low, ask a well driller or a plumber what a pump would cost.
The best sound barrier is insulation in the wall. Short of tearing open the wallboard, it’s pretty much what you see (hear) is what you get.
All in all, think about renting out the rooms and letting each house have 4 roommates. Good Luck!
Re: Converting split-level house - Posted by michaela-ATL
Posted by michaela-ATL on March 26, 2005 at 11:41:52:
Renting out rooms would make it a ‘Rooming house’ and might be illegal as well. Some neighborhoods are fighting those pretty hard, because they bring the proeprty values down. Legally, you’d need a special license to run a rooming house. I bet the neighbors would not just watch this quietly.
Michaela, you are right about neighborhoods fighting ‘rooming houses’, but what you’re thinking about are those ‘Group homes’ for mentally challenged individuals or half-way houses for ex-cons. By definition, rooming houses, or SROs, single room occupants are clearly defined by zoning laws and usually are in excess of 6 people, and in most cases, 12 people or more.
In this case, 4 people sharing a house would not be a rooming house.
In case you’re wondering, I know of six different individuals who are doing this with more than six homes at the moment. None of them have had any issues with being considered a ‘rooming house.’ Two of them are renting out to college students near a university.
Ten years ago, when I got out of college, I lease-optioned a 6 bedroom property. I lived in one bedroom, and I leased the other five out to nurses from a nearby hospital who worked the afternoon shift. I had 5 roommates I never saw, and I made almost $500 a month positive cash flow. You might say that it’s not relevant, what I did 10 years ago, and you may be right. But I did do it then, and I know that it’s being done now.
Your point is a good one, but it would be more accurate to say that as long a local zoning laws defining what constitutes a rooming house are followed, there’s no need for concern.
Re: Converting split-level house - Posted by michaela-ATL
Posted by michaela-ATL on March 28, 2005 at 09:37:21:
I guess it depends on your area. In my neighborhood the neighbors worked very hard to change the local ‘duplex zoning’ to ‘single family zoning’, in order to fight the rooming houses in the area. Now, there can not be more than 2 unrelated parties living in 1 home.
