# Forum Contacts & Links Estimating & Quoting  converting a queenslander

## sfly84

Hi all 
Just looking for some information for a project that I have in mind, if anyone can offer some advice that would greatly appreiacted.  
My dad and I both work as formwork carpenters in Brisbane and are thinking about purchasing a queenslander home and converting it into two separate units. One unit above and one unit below. Then selling them separately or renting them out if need be. We should be able to do a lot of the work ourselves, but we are just wondering how feesable it would be. 
Like what I mean is once we have converted them, could we make a profit by selling them or renting them out individually. 
If you are able to help that would be great. 
And thanks for time 
Shawn

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## KymJ

Hi there,  
I'm planning to do a similar thing. I have a 1920s Queensland that I plan to build in underneath to create an apartment with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, laundry and nice sized living area. I'm also planning to extend the upstairs verandah which will do the job of providing an outside living area upstairs as well as a covered outdoor space downstairs. I'm planning to do a fair bit of the finishing work myself and I'm currently working on the assumption that it'll cost about $150,000 but I will have formal plans and quotes done up in the next couple of weeks. 
To answer your question about the feasibility of selling or rentin - I think you'll just have to collect some local statistics. I would visit some of your local real estate agents and see if they can give you a realistic idea of what sort of rental or sales return you'd get in your area. You can also check websites like 'on the house' to find out what the property sales records are for your local area to cut through some of the real estate spin. Then, just compare the cost of the build repayments to what your return will be. 
You've probably thought of this already, but you'll also need to sort out town planning for dual occupancy if you want to sell the apartments separately and work out how to separate the electricity, water and gas bills for each of the houses (I'd imagine this will cost a bit to have new meters installed). 
The other thing I've been considering carefully is how to design the property so that it works well for tenants. Most people don't want to be faced with a close neighbour on a daily basis so you should consider separate property entrances where possible, to limit the amount of shared space. Also make sure that they have outdoor living space that can be used without their privacy being invaded (even by accident as a result of someone looking out their back window onto the downstairs outdoor space). I'm going to have a separate, fenced living area downstairs, carports in separate areas and a new pedestrian entrance added. Just think like a tenant rather than an owner and you'll end up with a property that is much more saleable / rentable.

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