Mail delivery issue in turning a SFH into a duplex

[Nate Ferrari]

Hey guys! I'm interested in turning some SFHs into duplexes by finding a property that would be conducive to that. I asked my realtor about it and he quickly said he would not recommend it because of the issues of the postal service only having one mailbox there and that it could potentially be illegal to deliver multiple families' mail to one box. Has anyone else successfully navigated the mail issue so that USPS approved having a second mailbox? Just want to be sure I keep it kosher and don't commit some kind of federal crime. Thanks!

[Scott S.]

I'd suggest you ask the local post office what the requirements are for that city to get the official answer.

In the various cities/burbs around Minneapolis, I see different locations for mailboxes. Some areas have one box on a post in front of the house near the street. Others have 4 boxes grouped together by the street, and I've also seen neighborhoods where each house has their own box mounted on the side of the house by the front door.

On some SFHs split into two units, I have seen two boxes, one marked 'A' and the other 'B' so that even though they share the same house number, the postal delivery service knows to separate the mail into two boxes: "123 Main St, Unit A", for example. (The post office can also tell you if the second box should be labeled "Unit 2", or "Suite 1/2", instead.)

No matter the location of the box, the expense to mount said box would be a negligible one-time cost.