Hi Avram- There are many considerations here. What will be the asking price of the condo you want to sell when it is over? How will you be able to sell it? For the new buyer, getting a mortgage on it will be very difficult, especially if they have less than 20% down payment.
You may be able to avoid that by keeping it all a 2 family and offering/ selling a 99-year lease on the other side. Might be a creative way to avoid the condo thing, and it would be easier for someone to get into that than a condo like this- from a financing stanpoint. And you would avoid most of these upfront legal fees.
Call or email me if you'd like to discuss further. Thanks and good luck,

Ken L.

Avram,
Along with the attorneys, you will need to hire an engineer/surveyor to draw up some plans of each of the units for the registry of deeds. A current client of mine is working on converting a building to 4 units. The exterior has already been surveyed so no need to do that again. The interior plans and legal fees for the new work will cost him around $5,000.00. I am not suggesting that is your cost, that is his experience. I have been involved in over 10 conversions and the costs do vary.

If you don't already have the professionals in place, engineer and attorney, seek referrals from people you know, if you can and get some quotes. At this point converting is fairly standard and a good engineer and attorney will guide you through the Town and State process. Good luck.

Hi Avram,

You would need to hire an attorney to draft a master deed and condominium documents that comply the condo laws in Massachusetts Chapter 183A. The documents would then have to be recorded at the Registry of Deeds. So the cost would be whatever the attorney charges and any filing fees - the documents are pretty boiler plate, so it should be that much.

To find out about town requirements, contact Richard Asmann, Building Commissioner, (978) 897-0574, Rasmann@townofmaynard.net - he can tell you about zoning requirements, permiting fees, etc.,

Hope this helps. If you decide to move forward, I've been representing buyers and sellers in Maynard and the surrounding towns for 16 years and would be happy to help. My website is http://www.marilynmessenger.com - you can search for homes and get information to help you plan your move. Marilyn

Hi Avram,
you buy the property as a 2 Family, which means you buy one deed. Then you hire an attorney and you do two condos, two deeds. Now, there are a few questions to be answered, for example can this property be turned in two condos, etc, questions that could be answered by the building department & zoning, etc from the town of Maynard. For example what are the parking requirements, if any, etc/ Also when you decide to sell them as condos, what will be the lenders requirements. If you have more specific questions, I would love to tell you more and help you in any way that I can. You can email me directly at: yannistsitsas@yahoo.com
I look forward to speaking with you since I reside in West Concord, which is next to Maynard. Good luck.
Yannis