Do you stay away from rentals with no Central Air?

Question

Hi BP, because of my budget for real estate I am working with, a lot of the properties I am looking at do not have central air. In anybody's experience, does this factor into people renting your property? Do people tend to stay away from properties without central air? I know there are window units, but not sure how those are perceived with renters. IMO, if I was renting, and have kids Id stay away from places without central air. Thoughts?

Caleb Brown · Answer

Typically in our area anything with 2 or less beds (sub 900 SQ Ft) window units would work. I would check with PM's see what they think. If it gets super hot in the summer it could be a little different. Also anything in B-A areas typically will need central A/C

David Ingram · Answer

Thank you all for the responses. I ended up signing a contract with my first rental today. I chose a house with less than 800 sq ft. I am going to buy a couple window ac units and call it a day and hope for the best. Thanks all!

Eliott Elias · Answer

This depends on the immediate market & neighborhood you are buying in, and what prices you are charging for rents. If you are charging the same as other property that are run off of window units, you won't have an issue.

Jeff Costa · Answer

If you have a PM, make sure they do the install on behalf of the tenant. In other words, don't let the tenant install or remove it to remove risk of damaging the windows.

Alecia Loveless · Answer

@David Ingram I feel it depends in part on your location as well as your neighborhood.

I’m in New Hampshire and most houses don’t have central AC. So up here no issues.

I remember certain areas growing up in northern Texas where older houses also used window units. But all of the newer neighborhoods obviously had central air conditioning.

If it’s not common where you’re buying you should be fine but if you’re looking at the only property in a neighborhood without I wouldn’t recommend buying it.

Theresa Harris · Answer

It depends on where the house is and what the typical rental is. I don't have AC in my house and it is fine. I also have higher ceilings and know how to keep the heat out. I live in an area where we go get temps in the mid-30s (low 90s), but it cools off at night and isn't humid.

Jeff Costa · Answer

That's a great outcome. Thanks for the backing info.

Aaron Breckenridge · Answer

It was a 1930s duplex, so plaster instead of drywall, but they didn’t cut the walls. They just cut new supply and returns in the ceiling. 2-3 day job.

I spoke with an HVAC contractor for a house job, and he wanted to do all sorts of crazy unnecessary things, like putting new supply vents in a hardwood floor, and retrofitting an AC just for the master bedroom. He was also worried that the existing supply ducts would be rotted out since they’re in a crawl space, but they were fine.

I eventually found another guy here via the Classifieds forum and was really happy with the outcome.

Jeff Costa · Answer

@Aaron Breckenridge Did you have to open up walls to install the ducts and returns? How invasive was it? How long did the retrofit take?

Aaron Breckenridge · Answer

As a former renter from a LL who retrofitted a central air system to replace window units: no.

The window units performed better than the central air system. It was a very drafty 1930s build.

Do you stay away from rentals with no Central Air?

Do you stay away from rentals with no Central Air?

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