4-plex to a Triplex

[Sal Montefiori]

Is it ever a good idea to downsize a quad to a triplex? I'm looking at doing a BRRRR on a quad-plex, each unit 2/1, but after doing an initial walk through we felt like it may be a better idea to combine two of the smaller units into one to make a large 3/2 with two 2/1's. we would lose a bedroom (if you could call it that) but based on a bigger layout I feel we could attract better tenants for it and still get similar rent totals if not a little better by adding laundry with the extra space. Thoughts on if anyone has done this in past? Advice on any obstacles we're not seeing. Thanks!

[John Warren]

@Sal Montefiori it can definitely make sense to combine units sometimes, but I have a sneaky suspicion that in this case it will not. The 2/1 is pretty much the bread and butter unit of the rental world and there are a LOT of renters looking for a two bedroom. Your rental pool will normally drop when you jump to a 3/2 as the rent will be higher. This doesn't mean it isn't possible that the 3/2 will make more sense, but you will have to do some careful market analysis to find out. I would recommend speaking more with your broker and property manager about something like this to be absolutely sure before you spend the money.