Condo Conversions - Somerville and Cambridge

[DJ Richmond]

Hi All,

I had some very basic questions about the condo conversion process of a small residential multi-family in the cities of Cambridge and Somerville. Condo conversions have been extremely popular and I imagine the process isn't overly complicated, but can be very lucrative. I was hoping to get some first hand experience of people who have actually done it, either successfully or not.

What has been your experience with going through one of these? Has it gotten increasingly more challenging recently due to the more competitive market? What are the costs associated with doing so? What approvals have been needed? What has the timeline been?

Thank you all in advance for any insight!

[Alex Cwiakala]

Hey DJ, yes they have the opportunity for big returns. The market is very competitive and if they're on the market, they don't stay there long. As a baseline, we budget 135 a Sq Ft for renovation. Obviously if the home isn't an entire gut, that cost can fluctuate. When we go to P&S, we start having architectural plans drawn up. They generally take 30-45 days to get and then an additional 21+ days for review by the city. Architectural plans for a 3 family full gut renovation with condo docs have ran us 12k. Hope this helps!