Estimates on Pricing/Timing

All in -- from closing date on the units to move-in, all legal: 8 months to 1 year, depending on how much design & planning you can get done in advance of closing.

I once did a combination. I would say that the approval and permitting post closing takes about 2-3 months without any major snags. That is assuming that you have your plans drawn up and ready to go when you close. 4-6 weeks for the board approval, and 4-6 weeks for city approval. I would also caution that your scope of work will likely expand. Even if the floors match perfectly there will be some floor and molding repairs where walls go up and come down. There is also likely some electrical work to be done where walls came down. It is hard to tell in advance what electrical or other phone lines could be in the walls. This may not be a major snag, but could require a soffit or something to run electrical or cable lines that were hidden in the walls. If you are building 2 walls, those walls will likely need electrical too to be up to code. This could be simple, or more complicated, and you may not know for sure until walls start coming down. There will be at least some painting. You may also talk yourself into more upgrades since you already have the contractor there, and are already spending so much money, we might as well....

The kitchen to laundry room conversion could be very easy or very costly depending on how much plumbing work needs to be done. Re routing a water line to the other side of the room to make for a better layout can cost quite a bit of money. Of course make sure your building will allow this.

In a best case scenario with no major snags, and if your scope of work stays as limited as you think, it could be done in 5-6 months. I do think that the 8 month timeline that aaron2 suggested is realistic. Having all the plans drawn up and ready to go, and all of your materials picked out before closing will save you a ton of time and money.

As far as architect's fees. There is obviously a huge range. I guess it would be possible to get it done for 10K in architects fees if your job is really really limited, and there are no onsite changes that need to be made, but I would assume 25K to be a bit more realistic.

thanks this is really helpful and makes me want to find an apt already combined :)

shans44, your architect fee could be $10K, could easily be double and up. From closing to get full reno done allow 4-8 months. Depends on SF and detail of reno. Don't forget that bdgs restrict reno time frames. Worth investigating that before pulling the trigger on such a purchase.

Shans44

We are starting s combo shortly. My client is paying the architect $15k