Converting 2- or multi-family into single-family home

What are the advantages of doing this? From my research, it seems like there are only downsides:

1) Less valuable for a potential resale where the new owner might want to use it as a 2+ family building;
2) Triggering a requirement to add an expensive sprinkler system;
3) Triggering a property tax increase (I know theoretically the taxes should go down, but I’ve seen a few posts from people where DOB reassessed the building and taxes went up).

Would I be able to do an extensive renovation to convert a 2+ family building into a single family home (where I wanted to do things like removing kitchens, demo’ing walls, and adding new wet rooms) without a change to the COO?

jdefel

in General Discussion 3 years and 3 months ago

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jimhillra | 3 years and 2 months ago

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@reno_newbie: The FDNY code exempts sprinklers for “a change in use or occupancy that is limited to restoring a building that was originally constructed as a one-family or two-family dwelling to its original one-family or two-family use and occupancy”

resident2 | 3 years and 2 months ago

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Leave it as a 2 family. Any future buyer as a well as yourself will have options. In this day & age you have no idea where life may take you. There is no problem with “under using” a house.
You or any future owner may need an au-pairs apartment, live in housekeeper, a personal assistant live in. It makes it easier to evict them if needed as a two family. I have even seen a grown sons girlfriend refusing to move out, it would have been easier as a separate legal apartment.
It is not the DOB that re-assess the RE Taxes. The permits & sign offs triggers the DOF to do that based on the improvements. It is crucial to keep the costs of improvements on the permits as low as possible. Designer wall paper does not need to be included!

jdefel | 3 years and 2 months ago

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@nawshin @jimhillra Thank you both! Do you know if this exception applies when converting from a three-family to a single-family as well, or is it just for a two-family conversion to single?

jimhillra | 3 years and 2 months ago

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That’s correct. However, the exception only applies when returning it to a single-family. The DOB may require proof that it was originally a single-family.

queensappraisal | 3 years and 2 months ago

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You do not need to add a sprinkler system when converting a 2 family to a 1 family. There is an exception specifically for this. We recently did it (legally). No sprinkler required. We have no regrets.

cate | 3 years and 3 months ago

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If you keep it a two-family and you add new wet rooms without changing the configuration of the units, you should be able to do it with an Alt-2. This will still likely trigger a tax increase however. If the house currently has no C of O or a vague one, you may be able to keep it a two family, change the configuration of the units, and add new wet rooms with an Alt-2 and without a new C of O, but I am not sure. OTOH if you find a house with the configuration you need and merely update the existing wet rooms within the existing footprint and configuration, it seems unlikely you would need to file an Alt-2, and your taxes should not increase.

JohnHancock | 3 years and 3 months ago

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Keep it 2