Turning a home into a rent by room in Minneapolis?

[Rob Grove]

I just recently listened to a podcast on BP where a guy turned a duplex into a rent by room and increased his profits. I just started managing a facility where a lot of people live in these types of properties and pay between 5-700 a month in north Minneapolis (pretty bad area). When I talked to my wife about this, she said she stayed in one near the U of MN when she went to school there. 

Ideally around a university would probably be better for a variety of reasons but I may need to start in the bad area since its cheaper. Luckily my current job has given me the experience of dealing with the roughneck crowd (and I can legally carry a gun.... Which is also a +) ok it's not that bad... In most parts.

A few questions: 

What does it take to turn a SFH or duplex into a rent by room? Does this require getting rid of common areas like LR amd DR and creating bedrooms? Getting permits for these changes and that's it? Do I have to do anything special to get these changes approved by anyone? Anything I'm missing? Thanks in advance !