Remodel a church to duplex ?

[Sean Robertson]

Offer counter on a church Oregon coast. Price is $190k 3500 sqft. Upper level 2 bed. large great room. kitchen and full bath. This would be unit one fair rent $1650

Lower unit 5 bed room,kitchen and 1.5 bath fair rent $1750

Wanting to know everyone opinion on it. Unit has old wood windows a lot of them (church) kitchens both need to be redone. Wiring has been pieced together over the years. Oil heat looks less then 10 years old. Lower bathrooms need to be replaced. Old house possibly has lead paint. Last but not least the contractors at the coast are hard to get a firm quote or get to work. All advise is appreciated.

[Laurie Clarkston]

I am renovating a church into a 4 plex. (Purchase price $47,500)  Building as purchased was basically just a shell.  I have had to redo everything.  6000sf - New electric (separately metered), plumbing (all plumbing has to be redone to separate the units - also decided to separately meter) $15000, new sewer line $5000 , cabinets, all bathrooms totally from scratch (no one wants a bathroom with multiple urinals)  $3500, sunday school rooms are converted to bedrooms in 2 units - but still had to add closets.  Added laundry rooms x 4.  All appliances ($10000),  New HVAC x 4 - as old furnaces used for church are not efficient and were huge.  ($18500).  Backhoe work ($3500)  4 kitchens ($20000 for cabinets).  This doesn't include paying my contractor and his guys.  I'm not sure from your post if this church was previously turned into living units - but if not I would guess the cost would be quite a bit higher than your estimates.  If it is already done and just needs updating - then congratulations - those rents are amazing.  I could never get that much here!  BTW, although this project is kind of a money pit, it has been really fun to do and I have gotten lots of positive feedback utilizing a previously abandoned building and turning into something useful and needed.