Thread: One or Two Family House

Talk to some local rental agents where the house is located.

The rental market might be better for a 4 bed house or a 2 bed house. The only ones who know for sure will be those who are renting to renters in the market where the house is located.

Before you spend any money turning the house into a duplex make sure the local zoning ordinances allow multi family residences. If not, they could come in and make you take out all your remodeling and return the house to a single family residence.

Hi Odqlesz,

I agree with Greg zoning ordinances are very important...it could be quite costly if not followed.

I guess the question is, is it worth it? If you put in more money into turning the house into a double, is the amount of money you're going to make significantly more?

A renter having a house to themselves may be willing to pay more than if the abode was shared. Granted yes, on an overall bases you'll mostly likely be getting more a month if there were two income, but is it significantly more and is it worth it to have to deal with two tenants, instead of only one.

In Buffalo New York, where there are a lot of doubles, everything is set up. You can buy one in good, rentable condition for $55k making an average of $1100/month total in rent ($550/unit). I think this is great because it's ready, but had it been a single, I'd probably just leave it alone and rent it out for $850/month, knowing I'd only have to take care of one tenant.

Greg's right, firstly. Secondly, if the laws allow, sure convert it. Unless you want to remain stagnant and barely making it as a landlord, convert if possible and learn the eviction procedures.

NOTE: The eviction proceedings vary from state to state, but all in all, they favor deadbeats. So prepare yourself and have an iron clad lease and be prepared for physical confrontations if renting to those types.

It depends how long you think you'll keep the house and how much it will cost you to convert the house. Taking into account both time, labor and materials.

You have to do some comps in the neighborhood to see how much you think you could get for the property as a duplex.

You have to consider the duration for which you are renting the house vis-a-vis the expenses that will be incurred plus other factors which may include taxes, tasks as a landlord, etc.

Cost of conversion and ordinances will have to be checked out first, however I always liked 2 to 4 family residential instead of single family.
Single families are either 100% full or empty - you spread your risk more with multi-units. Two families are a better option than 4-family - closer to being a single family home and tenants tend to stay there longer.