I have a duplex built in the 50's I noticed that a similar duplex down the street was for sale and upon viewing the pictures I noticed it had a washer dryer hook up stuck in the utility closetthe owner moved the hot water heater to the left and and expanded the space I decided to do something similar in my unitsI actually used one of the hall closets there are two in the unit one near the kitchen and one outside the bedrooms I decided to use the one nearest the kitchen and ran plumbing and electrical to the closet widened the opening to accept a stack washer and dryer and installed vent holes and duct work to remove the lint.from the dryerof all the things I did in my unit from tiling to new lighting and laminate flooring over carpetprospective tenants seem to appreciate the washer dryer hook up the mostI think a close second is the laminate flooring but I wont know until it is all down and I have my first looks.this is probably old news to you veterans out there about converting a closet into a washer dryer room but I am a newbie and just happened to stumble upon this idea when I saw my neighbors house otherwise I may never had had the inclination to do it.

Each unit is a 2 bedroom 2.5 bathroom side by side townhome style quadplex.

became an unintentional landlord 3 years ago on oct 1st. wanted to share with you the tracked expensed over past 3 years.rent $900, $925, $950, $975 (tenant renewed 10/1/2012 for 4th year)Per month average over 36 months: $626 P/I/PMI $199 HOA$116 Repairs/capital improvements$ 6 Vacancy$ 114 Taxes/Insurance$1062 Total Expenses + debt paymentcurrently -$86/month cash flow(this is why you do not buy a condo &, for newbies, to have reserves for the unknown)

Look for neighborhoods that your target tenant would want to live in: 3 bedroom, 2 bath for instance.

Seth, I'm also not a lawyer, so don't know the legal aspects, but I have had many recent frustrating experiences with homeowners and condo associations.

They will basically just be looking for the following things in your home office:- The office must have a secure door lock and be separate from living quarters (can not be a bedroom, must be a den or a separate office)- Password protected computer- Locking file cabinet where tenant information is stored- ShredderThere's really no way to get around this if you wanted access to complete credit report info.

FYI--it's going to be owner occupied, it's a condo and the seller wants to impound prop. tax, HOA dues and parking fees to guarantee the payments are made.

Alternately I could buy and occupy a condo in Jersey City or Hoboken which would give me a bit more breathing room financially.

I've done mobile homes in parks, mobile homes on land, SFH, condos, townhouses , duplexes, quads and of course SFH.

but perhaps you could do the common areas with new molding and leave the bedrooms as is.