An additional Kitchenette a liability for landlord?

[Wei Huang]

Folks, I need some suggestion/advice/thoughts on what to do with a kitchenette hook up in a split level single family property that I am about to close on for buy & hold. 

The upper level has a full kitchen and the rehab work is mainly in the lower level which basically only has finished dry walls. Down there I need to finish just about everything else from flooring, trims, to windows/door frames. 

There is a kitchenette hook up by the lower level exit door with tiles put down.  My thought was to cover it up somehow and NOT to make it accessible because all I can think of as a landlord is a liability feature having an oven/stove upstairs AND downstairs for renters. 

It's a 2000+ split level home so it COULD be an attractive feature for renters with big family (maybe like a in-laws suit). If I do that I will probably buy a whole kitchenette set to finish it off. However, I can't get over the thought of grandma or auntie fee forgetting to turn off the stove down stairs and setting the place on fire.

What would you do?

[Jerry W.]

There are a fair number of houses in my area where they became a duplex by using an upstairs and a downstairs apartment.  They cash flow better than renting them as a single house but you get a lower quality tenant and much higher turnover.  There are usual issues like only one furnace etc that you can work through, but they are a pain.