All Forum Posts by: Satish Subramanian

Brandon Turner always talks about one of his favorite things to do to add value to a rental is to convert a 2 Bed apartment with >1000 sq ft into 3 Bed. I’ve got a 1400 2-bed in Chicago (Jefferson Park) and I guess there is room to do so, but before i get started... Can someone explain the ROI numbers behind this? Also how do I go about doing this? Do I need permits or can I just add a room and poof now my 7bed/3bath 3-unit now becomes a 8bed/3bath??

@Christopher Hein I started reseaeching in February/March, and went under contract around mid June, so about 4 months. 100+ deal calculations, 15-20 visits, 2 offers, 1 under contract/bought. Totally worth it and I’m sure that time wouldve been shorter if I had different search/buying criteria.

@Julio Puentes welcome to BP! Quite a few people on here are in the Chicago area so I’m sure you’ll have a great time. I just got a 3 flat in the NW side, so im sure you will find something as well. Good luck!

@Jeff Burdick - Yea that makes sense. I think I'll go with the 3/1 approach.

@Anthony Dooley - thanks for your thoughts. My question is more about which addition is better. Hopefully some more folks chime in with ideas. Maybe they’ll agree with your sentiments...

@Anthony Dooley - If I could put in $5k to increase the annual rental income by $2.5k and increase the home value, why wouldn’t I? I guess I could use that $5k towards another property, but even at a 10% CoC return, that’s only $500 annual return on the $5k. Seems like a no-brainer to go with the first option unless I’m missing something.

I recently purchased a 3-unit property and live in one of the units. It's currently a 2 Bed/ 1 Bath unit, but it's 1400 sq ft. and there's a TON of space that could easily be used to add another bedroom, bathroom, or potentially both. I'm in Jefferson Park, which is definitely a family-oriented neighborhood of Chicago.

My question is: If you were me, would you rather own and rent a 3 Bed/ 1 Bath or a 2 Bed/ 2 Bath? Both of these solutions would still have a solid-sized living room. Or would you go further and make it a 3 Bed/ 2 Bath, but have a small/mid-sized living room? Or is the cost of adding these rooms make it not worth the resources for either addition?

@Dan Razowsky - I'm in the top 2 Bed/1 Bath, & considering $1450 as my rent. The middle unit is 3 Bed/1 Bath & inherited rent is wayyy low at $1300. The bottom unit is 2 Bed/1 Bath & again waay low at $900. 2-car garage rented out for $200 total. PP was $537k, and needs minimal rehab - painting cabinets, painting walls, installing kitchen vinyl flooring. However, I'm looking to add another Bed &/or Bath to my top unit as it's 1400 sq ft. in order to increase the rent and overall house value.

One note is that I'm currently required to manage the property myself in order to break even on cash flow, so I'm really counting on raising the rent to market value and even putting additional rooms to force appreciation and rents even further.

After months of listening to every single BP podcast, reading all the BP books and countless posts, I finally closed on a 3-flat in Chicago that I’m house hacking. Right now it’s break even for cash flow, but i see the clear path to increasing the rental value in a short amount of time to get where i want to be. Super excited to get this journey started, and I’ve got so much to learn yet. Just wanted to say for the lurkers out there... get out and take action! Even if it’s as little as contacting a real estate agent, that’s one step in the right direction. You can do it... but only if you make the effort!

@Cody Hines Congrats! I close on a 3-flat tomorrow as well. I would echo @Michael Badin in using Cozy as that’s my plan. I’ve been on the other side of Cozy as a renter for some time now and it’s very convenient and keeps great record for both sides. Good luck!