Reverse Layout

[Eric La Pratt]

I'm looking at rehabbing a legal 4-unit on the north side of Chicago in a class A neighborhood (Lincoln Square / Ravenswood) and the top floor rear egress is in a bedroom, making the bedroom not a legal bedroom but, rather, an "office" or a "den". We'd do a large rehab (not gut but pretty darn close - all new kitchens, baths, moving a wall here and there, roof, facade, flooring, etc.) and are considering creating a reverse layout in the top unit so that we can keep it a legal 2 bedroom as opposed to a legal 1 + den. By reverse layout, I'm saying the front entrance enters into a hallway that serves the bedrooms and the rear entrance enters into a dining area or living area. In other words, the back of the home is living area (normally in the front) and the front of the home is the bedroom area (normally in the rear) but just in the top unit.

I've gone back and forth about this in my head. As a long time renter, I'm envisioning Class A renters saying, "Meh, I don't like the layout" and moving on. Because of that, I'm envisioning not being able to get top dollar rent the other floors will command given the level of rehab we'd be doing. Then there's the less quality tenant issue (unique units = unique tenants). Lastly, I'm envisioning the home not selling as quickly or for the price we're hoping for by keeping the legality of the bedroom.

Does anyone have any experience with or thoughts about this?