One thing people who live in New York struggle with are small apartments. Most homes in New York are very small and they don’t have a lot of storing space. Not only are they small, but they are expensive too. If you already own an apartment that is too small and the opportunity to purchase another one on your floor or above you popped up, it would be a good idea to use this opportunity. If you manage to combine apartments in New York City you will be able to live comfortably with your family. For those of you that think this is a good plan, we prepared this article for you. We gathered all the information you need to know as well as some clever ways to combine apartments in New York City. If you want to find out more, keep reading.

Your finances

The first and the most important thing to have in mind is your financial state. Can you really handle this expense? It is going to cost way more than just buying an apartment next door and creating a hole in the wall to connects it with the apartment you currently own. You will probably need to renovate this other apartment. You don’t really need two kitchens. In fact, in New York, you can’t have two kitchens in the same apartment. Those are the rules.

And this is something a lot of people forget when thinking about combining apartments. This is why you need to know and to plan everything in advance as the budget is going to be the biggest issue. Renovations in New York City cost a lot. Especially these types of renovations. This means that you will most likely need to take out a mortgage. And in order to take out a mortgage this big, you need to have a good credit score. If you don’t already have it, this is definitely something you need to work on.

If you are looking to buy two apartments at once and combine them, you need to know that there aren’t many banks out there that are willing to give you such large amounts of money. This is when you should just consider buying a big apartment and moving into it with Movers 101 NYC instead of combining two smaller ones.

Co-op or Condo

There is a difference between a co-op and a condo when it comes to combining two apartments. For both of these, you will need different permits and it is why you need to know all the regulations before actually buying a second apartment or even worse, two apartments. Taxes play a big role when it comes to combining apartments in condo buildings. You must have in mind that you may not be able to combine the two tax lots. And you will also need the consent of the condo board in order to go through with the works. And as these works last a long time, not everyone will be thrilled by this. It is very important that you research everything in advance because there are plenty of possible difficulties. Read about some strange things about NYC apartments before buying one too.

Combination layout matters

It is very important for you to know that the layout of the combination you are making matters. This is going to have a lot of influence on how much everything costs you. If you are buying and combining apartments side-by-side, it is going to cost you much less than if you were to combine apartments one above another. This is because, if you don’t want to invest a lot of money, you can just create a hole in the wall that is going to act as a connection between two apartments. But if you want to make it more seamless and nice-looking, you will have to do a lot more than that. The good thing is that you can get rid of junk in no time even if you decide to renovate the whole apartment. But again, the works are going to last a long time.

And if you want to combine the apartment above or below yours to the one you already have, you need to be prepared to spend a lot more money. This is a more challenging task than you might think it is. It requires serious structural work such as building a staircase in order to combine apartments in New York City. You might also need to add restructuring beams, which is another large expense. You will certainly have to hire a structural engineer to handle all these works. And a good one isn’t very easy to find and it is going to be another large expense to cover. Luckily, if you need help moving to your new place, finding this type of help is easy.

How much is this going to cost?

If you are wondering how much this is going to cost you, we have a short answer for you – a lot. Buying the second or two apartments, hiring people to plan out the works, people to do the works, the materials, the taxes, the kitchen demolition, renovations. All of this can add up to over one million dollars. And if you don’t already have this amount of money, doing this is definitely not a good idea. It would be a much simpler solution to just buy a bigger apartment and not go through all of this. And this is a solution you definitely need to consider before you combine apartments in New York City. Have in mind that doing this isn’t going to up the value of your apartment. Read our easy home remodeling guide instead as these remodeling works might actually increase your apartment’s value.