Thoughts on renovating this house

As a construction consultant I  often work with people before they but  to help them determine  c of o requirements for a building, and develop a renovation budget. This way as a buyer you can make informed decisions before you make an offer on a property. If you would like to discuss the services that I offer you can contact me off the forum

Ralph 
Benchmark Projects LLC

Benchmark Projects

in Architecture 13 years and 4 months ago

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bk_homeslice | 13 years and 4 months ago

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Hey everyone,

I am on a quest to buy a house in brooklyn and I came across this house:

http://corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&ListingID=2046052

Eventhough it’s listed as a 2 family I would possibly rent out the garden apt and top floor and occupy the parlor and 3rd floor.  I would then make the parlor a living room/dining room and kitchen and change the bathroom to a doorway to a deck with access to the backyard.

Any thoughts on thoughts on this conversion or how much appx. that work would cost?

Thanks in advance,
Jason

brownstonelover | 13 years and 4 months ago

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Dear Jason, Please remember if it is listed as a 2-family, you have to convert it to a 3 to legally do what you plan. You need a good architect to do that. I did it with my home, cost me 4K for the architect, then had to pay a plumber and had to pass inspection to get it all done. When all was said and done, my taxes almost doubled, however, better I pay $2000 more in taxes than get a savvy renter who knows they are are in an illegal 3-family, zoned for a 2-family and stops paying the rent. It was worth it to me not to get shut down or in trouble with the city. It took me 1 1/2 years to get it done, only because I didn’t have much money to do it faster. I had to slowly hire the plumber when I had money, etc. 

Also, in regard to your plan, I would make the  first 2 floors  my apartment as I did because that way you have a separate entrance and you can put up a temporary wall so you have privacy from the rest of the house on the parlor floor. YOur tenants can enter on the stoop level (as can you), but then you have more privacy. Otherwise you have to build your own little spiral between the 2nd and 3rd floors or share a hallway when you go from your 2nd to 3rd floor which is just weird. Want to go get coffee in your underwear but you have to enter the communal space to do it? Yuck.

masterbuilder | 13 years and 4 months ago

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You will have to install fire sprinklers.  You may need to upgrade your water main.

Hard costs are unique to each project and without seeing the actual house and developing a scope, I could not tell you if you are looking at $50K or $100K.

Augustiner | 13 years and 4 months ago

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The link does not work anymore.

a legal 3 family is requiring a sprinkler system if I am not wrong.
4k for an architect seems low.
I guess its more like 4k for drafting, 4k for expediter, 4k for mechanical engineer, 5-20k for architect.
So thats at least 25k without having bought one piece of sheetrock.
Then you will discover that heating/cooling is not sufficient for 3 apts, or that you need 3 gas counters and electrical meters, meaning 3 circuits each.
Then they will inform you that you need to rebuild your staircase because it is not wide enough to satisfy the egress requirements for a 3 fam.
So step by step you will get closer to a gut job.
If you want to do this get an architect to look at it before you buy it.