Basement rental in Providence R.I

[Richard Moreno]

Hello BP,

I have a 3 family in Eastside Providence RI., and I am really thinking about finishing the basement. This is one of the reasons I bought this property, the basement is huge and it already has plumbing that the previous owner put in. I can easily have a 2 bedroom apartment down there, and being close to Brown University I can get at least $1100 for rent. I wanted to see if any Rhode island members have had experience with the city? Other than framing it up and finishing it, the only difficult part would be the egresses for the bedroom windows, not sure if their big enough.

Currently I have 2 units rented at market rent which is about $1450, but I have my daughter living in one unit with family discount, only $500, so that being said I'm  not cash flowing much!  So that extra rental unit would make such a difference.

Thank You ! 

[Richard Moreno]

Thanks for all the replies, and I think everyone is right, the lot size might be a problem. @Frank Patalano , Just with the 3 units the tenants can't park all their cars, its 1 spot per unit. 

As far as the building goes, everything is great, it was built in 1990 and the basement has nice block structure and 2x6 construction ! 

Both entrances to the basement are nice and big, doesn't even look like a basement entrance. The previous owner was the builder and he even has a 4th meter for gas, he told me he was planning on adding a 4th unit therefore it looks like it was set up with plumbing. I would use the house meter thats in the basement and add a sub panel for all the extra circuits, and I would rent it and just include utilities. @Stephen Gallagher  as far as the windows, i'll  have to check, but where the bedrooms would be there is enough space to make the windows larger if needed, they might actually be 20x24 but not sure. Thanks @Anthony Thompson, I will just ask the city, and brace myself for the bad news! Who knows maybe i'll get lucky.