Need Tips: Subdividing 3700 sq ft Home into 4 Apartments

[Jasi Edwards]

I'm a first time home-buyer and I am on the market for my first investment property but have a lot of competition with cash investors. So I'm changing the game plan to purchasing a single family property that is large enough for me to convert into four units. I am going in with an FHA 203k loan to purchase it. As a first timer, I have tons of questions on what to expect price wise, and how to do it especially since the property has central air so I have to separate the system into different zones for each apartment to have their own control and for billing purposes. Any advice, tips, stories of experiences are more than welcome!

[Jared W Smith]

@Jasi Edwards You'll run into several problems with your plan. The first and probably the most important is ZONING. Though there may be exceptions, in most suburban or semi-urban cities, you will not find many single family homes in a 4-family zone. 4-family will likely be near small apartment buildings (5+ units). You will have to check your zoning first. 

Then next, is this economically feasible? Each of the four units will have to be sealed and fire separated from the others. Then there's emergency egress and light/air requirements for bedroom/living spaces. The single family home will have to have it's layout completely redone. Ideally this would mean that this single family house would need to be a large 3 floors plus basement with ample space for the aforementioned as well as units which aren't 'weird'. 

All of this is complex and will be costly. I would not recommend this for a first timer unless you have construction experience and prior experience with a local Architect to assist.