2 kitchens?

would you buy a home with 2 kitchens?

two, gorgeous kitchens? its just so odd to me. we found a nice home with 2 kitchens and it would be a waste to take one out (cherry, SS, granite in both )

i feel like its wasted space?

Re: 2 kitchens?

If there was a possibility of renting it out or down the road having a mother/daughter. I would prob consider it. But i see your concern, b.c if you are not going to use it then it would be a waste.

Re: 2 kitchens?

is the second kitchen legal?

Re: 2 kitchens?

We bought a hi ranch and there were 2 kitchens. The second one for the tenant was not legal at all! It wasn't fancy at all, and we had no plans of having a tenant, so we ripped it all out and converted it back to one family style.

Re: 2 kitchens?

Is it a full kitchen, with a stove, or just a summer kitchen for entertaining? If it's the former, I personally wouldn't have wanted it, because I didn't have a need for two separate living spaces in my house.

If it is a full kitchen with a stove, and it's a one family house, then it's an illegal kitchen, and there's a good chance it will have to come out anyway when the appraiser sees it (some banks will not make a huge issue of it) or if a town inspector sees it. But it's usually a matter of unplugging the stove and taking out the sink and capping off plumbing -- not a major job.

Re: 2 kitchens?

Could it have been owned by a family that kept Kosher?

Re: 2 kitchens?

Re: 2 kitchens?

OK - not knowing all of the info, here's here are my thoughts, but your agent should be able to confirm:

1. If the house is not a legal 2 family house (if it is, it should say it on the listing and your agent can confirm on public records), then you can't have two full kitchens with two stoves. That's not legal.

2. Many people do rent out part of their homes even if they don't have a legal 2 family -- they just set up an illlegal apartment. This is especially common in hi-ranches, given the layout -- homeowners often create an apartment on the first floor and live on the second floor. Then, when it is listed for sale, the layout portion of the listing will say something like "bedroom, living room, other room" (other room = illegal kitchen).

3. A summer kitchen, in my view, is basically a fridge and a sink. You can have as many refrigerators in your house as you want, so no issue with that. To add a sink somewhere, the homeowners would have had to obtain a plumbing permit and should have a CO for it. Assuming they do, then there's no issue with the summer kitchen.

4. As far as the stove, banks often have an issue with it (the apprasier will obviously see it when he or she comes through), because it's a clear violation. So people will often just unplug the stove and stick it in the garage or something when the appraiser comes in.

But definitely talk to your agent and confirm that the COs are there for the sink and all of that. If you are factoring the summer kitchen into your offer as added value, you don't want to learn after the fact that the sink has to be ripped out or COs need to obtained, which can be a hassle and delay things.

Hope this helps!
Christine

Re: 2 kitchens?

I bought a house with 2 full kitchens.. I entertain a lot with lots of people for parties and holidays so it was perfect for me..

is it legal..probbly not.

Re: 2 kitchens?

Yeah - just to clarify -- As with anything that's not "legal" in a house, it's generally only an issue when buying/selling.

If the the buyer is not a cash buyer (i.e. they need a lender to finance the purchase), the lender may take issue (depends on the bank and the particular issue). If they do, then the seller either has to make it legal, if possible, which can take time (to make any modifications, and obtain COs, which involves having town inspectors come out, etc.) OR the illegal item has to come out. You can't legalize a second full kitchen in a one family house, but I have had buyers choose to have the sellers just remove an illegal shed or half bath rather than have to wait for COs to be obtained which can take awhile. It really just depends on the situation and what the parties want to do, but sometimes people are surprised when these issues crop up, and it's good to know the situation at the outset.

Personally, I love to entertain, too, and would love an extra kitchen myself! : )

Re: 2 kitchens?

When we're all done with the current renos, we'll have 2 kitchens next to each other. We have two right now, since the original house was two apartments.
Since they will be next to each other, with only part of the dining room between them, it's obviously not a 2 family house anymore. If they still complain, I'll just say we keep Kosher, and it's religious discrimination! (we're not Jewish, but the inspector doesn't know that....) If that doesn't work, we'll just move the stove out of the "butler's kitchen" for the inspection, then put it back after they're gone.

The 2nd kitchen is awesome for entertaining. For Thanksgiving, we have the turkeys in one, and the 2nd oven is still available for stuffing, casseroles, etc. Plus, we have 8 burners for side dishes.
The 2 fridges are almost always full, and the extra storage is very handy.

Message edited 2/28/2011 8:40:16 AM.