Splitting Up 3-Story House
Interested in anyone’s thoughts / opinions for our upcoming renovation. We own a three story row house which is currently configured to be rental on the top floor and owners on bottom two floors. Cost will play a big decision but we are considering if we should put the rental on the bottom floor and…
Interested in anyone’s thoughts / opinions for our upcoming renovation. We own a three story row house which is currently configured to be rental on the top floor and owners on bottom two floors. Cost will play a big decision but we are considering if we should put the rental on the bottom floor and live in the top two. Big advantages are 1. we will have use of the two best floors (the middle floor having the highest ceiling, original detail and best light). 2. The rental is easiest seperated by being on the ground floor.
The renovation will be back to the studs in places as we have to replace the wiring, plumbing etc so we can proceed however we want.
Downside we see is that we may lose access to the garden, we’re just about to have a new born so the wife is not fussed lugging a stroller up the stoop and we need to work on access to the basement.
If anyone has been through something similar or has thoughts we’d appreciate your feedback.
Thanks.
For the ground floor rental, put in plenty of recessed lights into the low ceiling and use glass doors between the rooms to let the light flow as much as possible. I have bedrooms and bathrooms downstairs with a low 7′ ceiling and it looks great.
Keep the yard. Soon enough you will have one or two kids rampaging around and you will be glad to have somewhere to let them go bananas.
I’ve been renting the garden floor for about 20 years. It’s probably a little harder to rent but when it rents they tend to say a while. The lower ceilings and less sunlight is the negative but they like the privacy and it’s peaceful.
market value of the home seems to be much greater for having a ground floor rental as long as there is a parlor deck. people generally just don’t want to buy top floor rentals. this is a no brainer.
Just wondering is it really harder to rent the ground floor? The private entrance and lack of stairs seem like a big plus. The ground floor is cozy though can be darker.
Thanks all. The Architect and contractor are very pro us having the top two and that seems to be the sentiment from responders. We’ll start posting soon on the reno blog but in the mean time we appreciate folks thoughts.
as an employee of the evil empire, you must be able to afford the deck 😉
I put a big deck off the parlor. Has stairs but I give tenants the garden. Plus they have the shade from deck which they like in summer. Works for me.
I did exactly what the first three posters are saying, and it is working like a charm so far.
It’s harder to rent a garden apartment and they go for less money.
But the upsides are worth it. I hated the idea of carving up the existing architecture in a weird way, or losing a lot of space to a common hallway. In this configuration, the house feels respected.
I did the same thing at my house, and did EXACTLY as the 3 earlier comments said, so I can vouch for that as good advice. It’s a much more efficient layout for the building. My deck has steps to the yard which is shared with the tenants. The renovation can get expensive, but you’ll love the difference.