How is this handled when single family is converted into duplex?

Question

For those who convert a single family house into a duplex (for example let's say you take a two story single family house) and covert it into a duplex by adding a second kitchen, separate entrances to the house and of course the house would have two separate garages (I'd live on the 2nd floor and the tenant would live on the 1st floor)... I get all that... but what about separating the water and electricity? As tenants have to pay their own water/electricity. Not only that, but how on earth would the air conditioner situation work as I don't see how tenants and the landlord could operate a single AC handler since of course everyone prefers a different temperature.

I see a lot of people house hacking... but I'm trouble understanding how I could make it work due to the above 3 issues?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Chad Rocke · Answer

@Juliet PalfiGreat question, what I’ve found works best is to have the utilities a flat fee that you can charge extra on top of rent or you charge an amount that would include helping to pay for the utilities. For example if you plan on renting the other unit in your home for $1800 and utilities/internet/water for the entire house on avg are $300You can advertise the rent as $1800 plus $150 for utilities or say $1950 all utilities included. It’s a flat fee so your not trying to divide up those expenses.I hope that helps

Account Closed · Answer

@Aaron SchraderI feel silly for being confused about this... but let's say I converted a house into a duplex. This house would already have a central AC in place of course... so if I wanted to use "mini splits" in order to allow landlord and tenant to control their preferred temperatures... how would that work? What I mean is, if I occupy 2nd floor unit and tenant occupies 1st floor unit how would I "deactivate the already in place central AC system? It would be a shame to un-install a perfectly working already in place central AC with "mini split". Or I guess I would simply have to ONLY deactivate the central AC on the 1st floor somehow so that the "mini split" affects ONLY the 1st floor... and the already in place central AC only affects the 2nd floor? Hope I'm making sense! :)

Account Closed · Answer

@Aaron Schrader Interesting!! Thanks so much for your advice... REALLY appreciate it very much!! I never even knew or heard of "mini splits" before because I didn't know what it was. I just had to google it LOL. Very cool! When you mentioned "he even had two furnaces that ran independently for each unit"... I assume that furnace was inside the "mini split"? As from what I understand, "mini splits" can both HEAT and COOL. So therefore I assume the furnace would be a function of the "mini split" or did he had a separate furnace in addition to the mini split"? Just making sure I understood you correctly :) I also just googled: "What Are the Differences Between a PTAC and a Mini-Split?" because I assumed most hotels must also use this "mini split" system but I see they don't (hotels use PTAC). After reading the below article which explains the difference I see that the "mini split" system would make more sense for a house that was converted into a duplex :)https://www.ny-engineers.com/b...I wonder why the AC guy I spoke to earlier didn't mention anything about "mini splits"! I'm going to call him back and pick his brain... I'll report back here what he says incase it might be additional good info in relation to my AC investigations! haha

Account Closed · Answer

After making some calls I spoke with an awesome and very helpful AC guy. He said if I convert a house into a duplex and I (the landlord) live on the 2nd floor unit whereas tenant lives on the 1st floor unit... I can have a second thermostat installed so that the landlord and the tenant can control their own preferred temperature. This can be done by installing additional duct and computer system bla bla... so the AC would behave sort of like the AC system in a car where the driver and passenger can control their own separate temperature. So if landlord wants COLD air blowing on 2nd floor unit and tenant wants HEAT in their 1st floor unit... this can be accomplished without having to install a second ac handler. Cost would be about 4 or 5k... worth it or am I nuts? Also turns out you CANNOT install additional AC handler into a house... that would cause a lot of problems and be EXTREMELY expensive because it just would not work to make long story short... but this other option (adding second thermostat and additional duct that allows separate temperatures in each unit) I think it seems great!! :)

Account Closed · Answer

@Chad Rocke Thanks so much for your reply! That sounds like a great way to handle electricity/water... but my BIGGEST hang up is the AC handler situation! =( I have stayed in an airbnb before where I had to stay in the guest bedroom and it was a NIGHTMARE not having control over the AC temperature as I did not have access to it at all. If I were a tenant, there is NOWAY in heck I would EVER pay to live somewhere if I knew the landlord was going to be controlling the temperature in my home. Hence why I am very confused why so many people claim you can charge MORE rent if you are renting out a space in a house (if that house was converted into a duplex) that is in a nice neighborhood instead of renting out a unit in an apartment complex? Am I nuts or am I missing something? ...and I can imagine that it would NOT make financial sense to buy a separate AC handler in order to create separate AC for the tenant if a house was converted into a duplex? I would love to house hack... but because of the AC situation I'm fearing that house hacking might not be for me... unless I had a separate detached dwelling of course...

Adah N. · Answer

@Juliet PalfiHi Juliet, what did you end up doing? In a SFR house hack with central heating/cooling. Lower unit is a 1/1, upper a 3/2. Considering installing a mini split in lower unit.

Aaron Schrader · Answer

I just looked at a house that was a 4 bed/2 bath, and it was split into 2 apartments, each with its own kitchen and each being 2 bed/1bath. The owner split the utilities with separate meters for everything, and he even had two furnaces that ran independently for each unit. A pretty sweet set up. I think the best way to get around your AC issue is to stick a mini split (ductless) unit in. You can run mini splits with one compressor outside and several different head units. Check into it. I had them personally, they're awesome.