Concerned about Bedroom Above Bathroom

[Bret Habura]

Hi All,

I'm looking to make an offer on my first investment property and recently came across a potential deal to fix & flip or BRRRR. It's a 3 bed/2 bath but I have a couple concerns.

1. The 2nd bathroom is in the basement and has no door. While it functions, it's not a legal bathroom.
2. The 3rd bedroom is above the bathroom on the main floor. It can ONLY be accessed by walking through the bathroom.

Has anyone encountered something like this before? I think after fixing the place up I could rent it for 1200-1500/month but am concerned that with this bedroom my rental pool (and buyer pool) will be greatly diminished. Here is a link to the property:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2047-Lafayette-Ave-NE-Grand-Rapids-MI-49505/23795146_zpid/?

The asking price is definitely too high... but I want to see what people think of this.

Thanks,

Bret

[Jim Goebel]

@Bret Habura

Wait so you have to walk through a basement bathroom, then up a flight of stairs to get to that bedroom you're talking about?  Weird, if so.

Are there feasible options/locations to cut a door opening to allow for alternate access into that bedroom?  This is a pretty simple project if you have a wall / access spot to cut through.

[Ned J.]

Ok that "bathroom" in the basement is basically just a toilet in the open....next to the washer and dryer...... how convenient :). The positioning makes in kind of hard to wall it in without moving some stuff around..... doable but kind of a PITA and more cost..... I would not count that as a 'true bathroom" when you are running comps....

So on the main floor you have a bedroom and bath........ but to get to the 3rd bedroom, you have to walk through the bathroom to go upstairs to get to the other bedroom.......correct?
That's weird...... I assume the upstairs bedroom is some converted attic space or loft......
Kind of weird and its going to be a negative as far as desirability if you cant change that I some way

[Andrew B.]

You should be getting a significant discount for buying a property with such a weird layout, and when you run your due diligence assume your rehab will include some changes to the floorplan. Everything can be a good deal for the right price.

As far the bathroom in the basement, I'm not sure why you cannot just add a door, but if not, add that to your calculation.

[Rob B.]

I would definitely push that in your offer (I'm with what others have stated above; a significant discount should be requested compared to their asking price). The photos of the place look great, but that's such a weird set-up for a bathroom/bedroom situation and that toilet is placed in such a random spot, there's really no way around it. You'd probably need to tackle that as a rehab project so no one faults you for pushing for a lower price. @Bret Habura