Advise on buying row house next door

Hi Browners, I am considering buying the row brownstone house next to mine. The two houses are essentially narrow (13 feet wide each) sister houses in a good Brooklyn brownstone neighborhood. Post purchase, the idea would be to then look to sell both houses to a developer who could then “condo” the property as there would be two front doors. This would allow the layout of the combined house to re-stacked: there would be 1 residence on the bottom two floors (entry via front door #1) and there would be 1 residence on the top 2 to 3 floors (entry via front door #2). Alternatively, I guess the two properties could be converted into one larger unit. Is this reasonable or am I thinking too much like D. Trump Many thanks

dodgechris

in Home Buying 10 years and 9 months ago

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BrownstoneDuplex | 10 years and 9 months ago

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I think you are on the right track BUT wider single-family brownstones are in demand. You may see more interest from developers if you present it as a “potential” 26 foot wide single family home. Good luck.

xchx | 10 years and 9 months ago

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I think the idea is the house might be cheap because who wants to live in a 13-foot-wide house, right? It seems like the math might work.

brokelin | 10 years and 9 months ago

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Why not just buy and collect the rent? Or, if you want to go into condo conversion business, then buy a four story built originally as four flats and condo that.

rastermon | 10 years and 9 months ago

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It would not make sense to go through all of this trouble and expense to turn two houses already on separate tax lots into a 2-unit condo.

no-permits | 10 years and 9 months ago

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stick to your day job.. or buy the one next door and rent it out if the numbers work.

brucef | 10 years and 9 months ago

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In “Hard Days Night”, the four Beatles entered into their (4) adjacent front doors, but inside it was one living space. Forget condo, that idea is a non-starter. The legal bills and soft costs would sky rocket. Then the offering prospectus cost would be divided between two units, 40K @. You have invented a way of destroying value. The DOB would have a field day. They make life difficult for sane people, this would push them into hyper-drive.