Adding a Basement to a Kitchen Unit

[Jacob Mallat]

Hello BP Community,

I am looking to house hack a single family home by splitting the upstairs and downstairs into two separate units. I have come across many homes with separate basement and upstairs entrances where I could use a door or wall to separate the upstairs and downstairs units. In many of these homes, the laundry area is downstairs and the kitchen is upstairs. What should I be looking for in a home to be able to add a kitchen to the basement unit as well as adding laundry hookups to the upstairs units, so these can be rented as separate spaces?

Additionally, by separating the upstairs and downstairs, what is the best approach for handling utilities - i.e. increase rent and include utilities, submeter, create a legal duplex and meter separately, others?

Thanks in advance!