Toronto Duplex conversion project inquiry

[Tony Li]

Hello everyone! 

I am very happy to join the forum, I am from Toronto and looking forward to learn more about real estate investment and grow together with you guys :)

I have a property in Toronto, given its zoning already allows for duplex, I am thinking about converting the existing property to a duplex. following is some basic info:

2 story semi detach, 

location: close to middle town,

purchase price: CAD 900000

 lot size 21*100, 

1500-2000 sqrt feet interior, 

3 rooms on second floor, 

6 feet high basement, 

3 separate entries(front door, back door, basement), 

1 detached garage in the yard but facing forward(not laneway), parking is in front of the house

already installed gas furnace,

property was built in 1910s

ARV based on nearby duplex: 1.2m+

there are several work involved in this project, including change service power to 200A, egress window for basement, open one window for main floor, separation wall to form two units, and create bathroom for main floor, separate meter if basement size is allowed.

another thing I am undecided is whether it is worth to underpin the basement to at least 8.5 inch or not, giving the basement is very small (about 400 sqrt feet)

I am only on the first stage of the project, where I just started to gather information and source for an architect and project construction team. Someone told me the building at this age can be very different internally and hard to deal with, thus I feel like there is something about this project requires way more than what I know 

I love to hear your opinion about this project, is there anything I need to pay extra attention to or any pitfall should I avoid. I am still looking for an architect and project construction team, anyone has any recommendations about this type of project please ?

Thanks everyone !