Too small to rent?

Question

I looked at an REO (3/1 house + storage room) that's in very good shape. The thing is, it's only 897 square feet, heated living area. As you can imagine, the living room looks more like a bedroom.

Jon Holdman · Answer

I have a similar house only slightly larger.  Not the easiest rental, but I do get tenants in it.

Mitch Kronowit · Answer

Even though they're expensive up front, consider putting a tankless water heater there some day. You'll free up about 9 square feet of floor space.

Mitch Kronowit · Answer

Interesting. I have not seen them in an attic before. But I have seen them outside. My sister's ex-husband bought a tankless for his house after I installed mine, but his was hung on the exterior wall of his garage. He saved $100's in stainless steel vent piping.

Bienes Raices · Answer

That's a good idea, then the person using the dryer could actually stand in front of it instead of loading the clothes from the side. I haven't checked the date on the existing water heater--maybe it's very old and needs to be replaced anyway.
                    
                    The attics in this area aren't really true attics--they're more like crawlspaces with some insulation thrown on the bottom. I don't know if the heater could go up there.

Bienes Raices · Answer

Here's a photo of the "laundry room". At first I thought it was a dealbreaker, but then I measured the dimenions of my own W/D and then went back to the REO, to get some idea of whether tenants could fit their machines in there. They will fit, with a few inches to spare. You can see the vent at the bottom, so the dryer has to go in the space between the water heater and the opposite wall. The hot/cold hookups are on the left wall. If the water heater wasn't in that room, it would be a better setup, though.

Bienes Raices · Answer

That's what I was thinking, it would be perfect for a single person, or a childless couple. For people with children, not so much.

Jon Klaus · Answer

If your rent is $50-$100 less than the competition, it should rent,  You might find a single guy who loves the yard.  I have a 1070SF 3-1 with a nice yard and a tenant like that.

Mitch Kronowit · Answer

It depends on the rent. If it's low enough, anything is rentable.

Bienes Raices · Answer

In that part of town, they're all 2/1's built in the '50s and '60s, with garage  conversions or additions later to make them 3/1's. Back in the '50s (before my time!), they must have been similar to those old "railroad" tenement apartments in NYC, with large families jammed into them.

Too small to rent?

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