Turning an older converted duplex back into SFH

[Bryan Miller]

Hello BP community! My wife and I found a beautiful house from the 1920's that had been converted into a non-conforming duplex back in the 1980's. It has been grandfathered in as a duplex, but we think it brings more value as a SFH. We live in a college town that has seen a huge explosion in apartment construction over the last 10 years and a general tightening of the SFH inventory. These factors combined have contributed to a situation where rents are low for 2/1 units and SFH prices are high for 3/2 or 4/2 houses.

The house itself needs some general work, and I am comfortable estimating the costs on that work, but I am not sure what it would cost to turn it back into a SFH. The house currently has 2 of all the utilities (HVAC - 15 years old, electric - 2 100amp panels, gas, water).

First of all, for people who have done this in the past, did you take out the duplicate of everything so that there was only 1 HVAC system and 1 of each of the meters? What needs to be taken out and what can simply be capped? Do you remember what the cost was for that general conversion? 

Finally, were there any issues that were unique to this type of conversion? The entrances aren't an issue with this property, we are working on financing for this specific situation, and we are checking with zoning to make sure the conversion is doable. Otherwise, I am wondering if there are things that I am missing. 

Thank you so much for your help! Please let me know if I am leaving out any necessary details!

Bryan