Putting an apartment in our basement ???

DH and I are thinking about putting a 1 bedroom apartment in our basement for the extra income (the previous owner had already started the frame work and insulation). I have no idea if it is worth it or what it might cost.

Has anyone recently put an apartment in their basement and could you give me an idea on how much money something like this would cost? Thanks.

Edited to say: If this is to personal a question maybe you can FM me. Thanks

I think it's illegal to have a basement apartment in NY. I'm not 100% positive, but unless you are renting to a family member, I would check it out first.

OOPS! I just looked online and you CAN have an apartment in your basement with proper permits and zoning. Sorry to give you false info!!!

Good luck on the renovation!

I've had my share of basement apartments... Rent all depends on size, amenities and neighboorhood.
My first apt was basement 1 bedroom big with full bath was $700/mth...now that could easily go for $900-$1,000.
Then I moved into a studio basement at $600/mth. I'm still in contact with them and they're now renting it for $700/mth. A friend of ours with the same house has their studio rented for $800/mth.
The house I live in now has a basement apt. 1bdrm, full bath, good size and they lady is paying $950/mth.

All in Franklin Square.

Good luck! It's so hard to find good tenants! Try by word of mouth first... then last resort...the newspapers..ugh... You wouldn't believe some of the wackys that come out of the woodworks!

I know that my mothers friend had an apartment put in her basement and they had to build on a seperate entrance. They dug out a ditch in the backyard and cut out a door in the cement and brick side of the house. The basement was unfinished before....So they basically had to do everything. The apartment now is a eat in kitchen, small but nice. Living room, bonus room that can be used for dining room or computer room. They use it for a computer room. Nice size Bathroom, huge walk in closet. and one bedroom. My moms friends daughter lives there with her two daughters and her two daughters sleep in the bedroom and she sleeps in the living room on a pull out.

The apartment is small but nice. I think she paid around $30,000 with everything.

Scott

Hi,
We live in a basement apartment now and we're looking for a house with a basement we can rent. To make it a legal apartment, you need to have and outside entrance, a window big enough for people to fit through in a fire, carbon monoxide detectors, smoke detectors, fire extinguisher... Our apartment is a nice size and there's a cutout in the wall between the living room and the bedroom--this might be for escape purposes since we've seen this in other legal apartments. It was insane when we were first looking for one--everything was soooo small and between $900-$1000. We got really lucky and got a big apartment with a big living room, EIK, full bathroom with linen closet, big bedroom, walk in closet and storage room, and we pay $975. We have a nice landlord who lets us use the side of the backyard to hangout and BBQ. We found it through and ad in Newsday and he was having an open house--sooooo many people were there looking. He ran a credit check on everyone who was interested before he decided.

Danielle and I live in one too. I posted the pictures on the home board a few months ago. IF you do a search you can find it. The apartment is in Danielle's parents house. When we moved in the apartment was sooo dirty and in bad shape from the last tenants. We had to fix the living room wall, because there was a bad leak, fill all the holes in the walls from their nails for paintings, and speaker holders that were on the walls.
They left 4 quarter size holes on two walls in the living room. Thank god my father in law is handy. Danielle and I, My friend NEal and my cousin Scott painted the entire apartment, because the walls were in such bad shape and the paint was soo boring. So we painted the kitchen, pistacio, the living room a pale yellow, the bathroon a lighter blue that was on the walls, & the bedroom light green. We got all new carpet in the living room and the bedroom. Danielle and her cousin anthony scrubbed the grout in the bathroom floor and in the kitchen floor and made it white again. The grout was black...It was gross. My father in law had to take all the caulk out of the bath tub area...because the people that were there last, caulked over mold. He took it all out and re grouted the whole shower area and tub. I bought a new shower head, cabinet knobs, and my father in law put in a knew sink with a top for the vanity. The storage room was a mess. There was a large chest freezer which my mother in law gave away, and my father in law had to put up a lot of sheet rock for the walls in the storage room. We then put up shelves. We were lucky the apartment came with a brand new washer and dryer. And finally the kitchen. It took me 2 hours to clean the stove that was there...It was disgusting...but my in laws decided to buy us a new range, along with a new fridge.

We pay $700 a month with all utilities, cable, and phone.

It is perfect for us....In the winter it is hot as anything down there, because the boiler is in the storage room and we have a seperate thermostat. In the summer it is only hot from August to October, so we put on the AC...Other than that we can survive with thewindows open and a fan. Make sure you have a dehumidifier though...you will need it. We use ours a lot.

Hopefully with the money we save on our apartment we will be able to afford a nice house in a year or so.

Scott

We made the basement in our other house into an apartment. It already had an outside entrance so that saved us a big expense. The estimates we got were between $20K and $50K -- honestly -- $50K for a BASEMENT?!?!
Anyway in the end it cost us about $25K for everything - labor, materials, appliances, carpeting, etc.
The apartment is really beautiful. People can't believe it's a basement. We rent to my brother and his girlfriend, so they're getting a huuuge break in rent. We had a real estate agent tell us she had 3 different tenants lined up who'd move right in for $1100 plus 1/3 utilities. It also really increased the value of our home by A LOT more than it cost us to build.

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Posted by fleeflee

It also really increased the value of our home by A LOT more than it cost us to build.

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I really agree with that alot...we are 'looking' (not ready to buy, just looking) and a HUGE buying factor for us would be an existing basement apartment..We live in one now and would def. rather buy a home that has one as well.