Conversion questions, answered like a colleague would
If yours is not here, call (202) 570-7131 and ask someone who has been on the owner side of the table.
What does a DC condo conversion cost, bottom line?
Beyond construction, plan $45,000 to $110,000 for a typical two-unit project: the statutory 5 percent conversion fee on unit sales (usually the biggest line), $10,000 to $20,000 of condo documents and legal, survey and plats, the engineer letter, CASD filings, and months of carrying while the paperwork completes. The calculator on the cost page itemizes every line against your own sale assumptions, with no email wall.
How many units can I make out of my rowhouse?
For most DC rowhouses, two. RF-1 zoning, the successor to the old R-4, generally caps a lot at two dwelling units, which is why the standard products are the up-down split and the basement carve-off. Three or more units usually means an RA-zoned lot, an existing legal multi-unit building, or relief you should not assume you will get. Check your zone before modeling anything.
What is TOPA and do I need to worry about it?
The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act gives tenants of rental housing notice and purchase rights when the building sells. If your target building has tenants, TOPA shapes your acquisition; if you are converting occupied rental housing, the separate tenant-election rules of the Conversion Act apply on top. Single-family properties are largely TOPA-exempt since 2018, with protections retained for elderly and disabled tenants. Vacant buildings route around the election through the CASD vacancy exemption.
How long does the whole thing take?
Purchase to final unit settlement typically runs 12 to 24 months: acquisition, construction, and a conversion-paperwork track that takes four to eight months when sequenced during construction. The expensive failure mode is treating the paperwork as an epilogue; started after the punch list, it adds months of pure carrying cost at $3,000 to $8,000 a month.
Is the 5 percent conversion fee real, and does everyone pay it?
It is real and statutory: 5 percent of each unit’s sale price under the Rental Housing Conversion and Sale Act, paid as conversion units sell. Certain sales carry exemptions, and current treatment is worth confirming with DHCD’s CASD before you count on one. Model it as a hard cost from the first offer, because a deal that only works without it does not work.
Can I do the conversion paperwork myself?
Legally yes; nothing requires hiring a processor, and this site exists partly so owners understand every filing regardless of who runs it. Practically, first-timers who go solo tend to pay in calendar what they saved in fees, and a sequencing mistake costs more carrying than the professionals cost. Read the process guide either way; informed owners get better work out of everyone they hire.
The lenders and title companies that rank for this topic, are their guides enough?
Read them and notice what is missing: the ranking explainers skip TOPA, the tenant election, the vacancy exemption, the 5 percent fee, and every real number, because their business is loans and settlements, not your pro forma. This site was built by a DC investor who ran the search as a customer, found nothing usable, and wrote down what doing a conversion actually taught.
Who is behind this site and what do you sell?
Condo Conversion DC is run by a DC-area investor who converts rowhouses himself and consults for owners doing the same. What is for sale is judgment and process management: feasibility reads, path planning around TOPA and the vacancy exemption, and running the filing sequence while you run the project. What is free is everything published here, which is more than the rest of the market gives you.
The numbers live on the calculator page, the mechanics on the process guide, and the Hill’s favorite project on the basement condo page. Start anywhere; they all begin at the Condo Conversion DC homepage.