Dollars for bedrooms: Milking subsidy for maximum value

"Diego Rios, a broker and mortgage originator at Home Global Realty in Cypress Hills, said he sees this especially with top-floor apartments. Owners will relocate a living room or kitchen to the center and put in a skylight above. This creates space at the unit's front or back—or both—for bedrooms. This way the requirements for windows at each bedroom are satisfied, Rios said."

"Going from one bedroom to two increases the CityFHEPS payment to $3,058 from $2,762. In a year, that adds up to $3,552—usually not enough to justify a renovation. However, going from two bedrooms to three pushes the monthly rent for a voucher unit to $3,811, an annual gain of $9,036."

Landlords are strategically renovating rental units to increase the number of bedrooms, thereby maximizing revenue from CityFHEPS voucher programs where payments are directly tied to bedroom count. New York City regulations require bedrooms to have natural light through windows and meet minimum size requirements. Creative architects help landlords overcome these constraints by relocating living rooms or kitchens to central locations and installing skylights, allowing bedrooms to be positioned at unit perimeters with adequate windows. While upgrading from one to two bedrooms yields modest annual gains of $3,552, converting two-bedroom units to three-bedroom units generates $9,036 in additional annual voucher revenue, making such renovations financially justified.

Read at therealdeal.com