Convertible vs converted 3

If I add training wheels to my bicycle, can I call it a car and get more money for it?

So you think that two bathroom-sized bedrooms would be more valuable than one normal-sized bedroom?

Why stop at 8x13? Why not subdivide them further into four 8x6's?

I don't know, did you spend over $50k reconfiguring all surrounding walls so as to use space on the bicycle most efficiently? Is your bicycle the same size and look as many cars? Is substantial work involved that is now done for any future user? Maybe then. Clearly from the description this is not a dining alcove "flex 3." Very smart analogy though.

Uh, witty remarks aside, the problem is a lot of buyers have queen or king size beds and you won't be able to attract those buyers any more. A king size bed is approx 7x7 and won't fit.

If you need to do this for personal reasons, you could always use a temporary solution (bookcase walls etc).

Square footage matters a lot. As an agent I once represented a small true two bedroom, each bedroom was 10x10, and it was unsellable in the market at that time, though priced below a typical two bedroom.

Flutistic, thanks for the feedback. The master bedroom is 14x16. This would likely have to be for a family.

I thought about this issue also as often there are classic 6-ish apartments (i.e. 5 rooms altogether), especially on the west side in older buildings, that are within a reasonable high middle class salary range (i.e. $1.5 mil). My thought is actually you can add temporary walls to divide the larger corner bedroom (or a dining room) into two kid's rooms, and this would make it very attractive for a family, especially the kind of very common Upper West Side well off but not crazy loaded family. Meanwhile, the wall can be removed so that if people want to restore it it can be done easily, especially with a 3 bedroom remodel that involves a dining room. A 1300sq ft apartment should be roomy enough for a family of 4 if the layout is reasonable, and permits a room for everyone. On the other hand, once the kids are out of the house and in college, you get rid of the temporary wall--and saves you the trouble of having to downsize again because you'd never use the third bedroom.

In summary, I think the most efficient and practical use of the space would be to add a TEMPORARY rather than permanent wall, also drastically reduces the cost, especially considering the DOB permits and coop applications you have to sort through for permanent walls. This can be left intact during showings to demonstrate the size of the split smaller bedrooms, if you want. This degree of flexibility IMHO likely will attract buyers. This is a common strategy in junior 4 condos being marketed now as a 2 bedroom, and it sometimes works--i.e. when the dining room is bigger than 8 by 10 or so.

Really wealthy families are not looking to squeeze their kids into a 8x12 bedrooms, so I don't think you are really targeting that audience anyway.

If you have to get to the point that you have a temporary wall (nothing says home like a temporary wall), why not try looking at leaving Manhattan?

gothamsboro, city vs. suburb is a bit more fundamental of an issue than adding a temporary vs. permanent wall to an apartment. We are just talking about potential choices and relative cost/benefits in terms of resale, not relative virtues of specific lifestyles. I'm pretty sure everyone who has looked at 1.5 mil junior 5s on the UWS also looked at 1.5 mil houses in Westchester and Northern NJ.

Plus, who says you can't have both? If you can afford a 2 mil 3 bedroom, maybe you want a 1.5 mil junior 5 in manhattan and 500k 1500sq ft weekend (or weekday for good public school?) cottage in Hastings-on-Hudson. Your comment is really kind of irrelevant...

The main thing you gain, I think, is a widening of the buyer pool to include families where the children are of different genders and/or significantly different ages. Here's one of my favorite examples, 470 WEA #6B: http://media.corcoran.com/Media/2121755 (see also http://www.corcoran.com/nyc/Listings/Display/845963). Asking 2.3MM, this apartment sold for 2.7. It's actually a classic six in which the kitchen absorbed the maid's quarters and the LR/DR were opened to each other. The same general principles apply here as with your hypothetical five-into-six. Couple of caveats on this example, though: few fives have a corner BR that lends itself to this kind of division - let alone a huge foyer that can be carved up to create an extra play space to relieve clutter in the small bedrooms.

I think that buyers understand that space is limited in city apartments and that many apartments are subdivided and these buyers will factor that into their offer. However, there are certainly plenty of buyers who would like a three bedroom apartment for various reasons, but may not be able to afford a true three bedroom and this is the market that would be interested in your apartment. When I was looking for a two bedroom apartment, I saw plenty of subdivided units, some where the living room or dining room space was made into a nursery or an office. Others where the living room was divided to make another bedroom and even some where a closet was made into an office. Buyers realize what has been done to the apartment and will factor that into their offer.

I agree with what lobster wrote. With regards to the OP question, I'm guessing here, but I think you can charge a premium of maybe 50-100k for the work done assuming the rooms aren't too too small. The bigger thing is the buyer pool. Subdividing an apt caters to families with kids esp those who want a home, not another project, and don't want deal with the renovations themselves. There is appeal to having something that just needs done paint and new fixtures without going through the DOB.

A number if friends would buy a 3BR but never 2BR (unless very large) because they want the option of kids having their own rooms.

>Your comment is really kind of irrelevant...

My comment isn't irrelevant at all. You are trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, then the OP wants the market to assign HIGHER value to the misfit concoction. West81 says you widen the buyer pool to include a certain type of family, well ok, but you also limit buyers on the other end who aren't so interested in this Frankenstein. As for the idea of both a place in Manhattan and in the suburbs, where in the world does that come from in this discussion - your comment is really totally irrelevant.