Are there ever too many bedrooms in a unit?

Question

I've been researching multi-family houses, and a thought occurred to me.  Most of the apartments I know of have 3 bedrooms or less.  Most of the condos I've ever seen are also 3 bedrooms or less.  Is this an indication that people who need more than 3 bedrooms are more likely to buy a house than rent an apartment?  I see a nice two-family house in the Corona neighborhood of Queens where one unit is a 3 bedroom 2 bath unit, and then other unit is 4 bedrooms and 2 baths.  Part of me feels it would be a great investment, but another part of me worries that the market for a 4 bedroom apartment would be much more limited.  My girlfriend seems to think it would be a good investment, and I certainly value her opinion.  What are your thoughts?

Ned Carey · Answer

Talk to tenant management companies, tenant placement agencies or section 8, and ask about the demand for 4 bedroom units. I suspect 3 bedroom SFH and 2 bedroom apartments are the highest in demand.  But that doesn't account for supply.   There may be only modest demand for 4 bedroom units but zero supply so they are easy to fill.   Good luck - Ned

Ken Powers · Answer

Great responses from everyone.  This particular unit would be great for families.  There's a playground right across the street (and this being NYC, it's a gold-plated playground).  There's also the NY Hall of Science, Citi Field, Arthur Ashe stadium, and Flushing-Corona park across the street in the other direction.

Jackie Lange · Answer

You will have a lot more wear and tear on the house if you have more bedrooms.  There could even be multiple families living in the same house.

Randy F. · Answer

A 4/2 is great! Even as a small family may not need a fourth bedroom, they may want an office or an extra room for storage or a play room or a music room or...

I certainly wouldnt walk away from a good deal just because it isnt 3 bed or less. In fact, it may rent faster because there arent near as many availabl.

Carl Schmitt · Answer

Ken, I don't want to stereotype, but in my sales job I go to 2-4 different houses per day.  I don't generally see too many low income homes with a lot of "pride" (to put it nicely).  And we only work with homeowners, not renters.  I can only imagine what the inside of some rentals look like.  Wear and tear is just a business expense as a landlord, but the more people you have living there, the higher that expense goes.  In my opinion, anyway.

Ken Powers · Answer

I wasn't even considering the wear and tear aspect, but I see how that could be a concern.  The neighborhood for this unit is also lower income, not the lowest in the city but still low.

Carl Schmitt · Answer

My parents had a 4 bedroom house a few years ago.  The tenants were low income here on work visas.  They used to call the last day of the month to remind my father to pick up next month's rent the next day.  The down side- tons of people living there.  I don't think there was ever a final head count, but it was a lot.  When they left, the place was close to a gut rehab.  Not because they intentionally trashed it, just major wear and tear from too many occupants.

Rob K. · Answer

Anytime I've had a four bedroom house for rent, I've gotten so many calls that I thought my phone would melt. Everyone has so many kids these days. It's like they live on farms and need the extra help. There are also many families with step kids and multiple baby mama's and baby daddy's.

I would look on CL and see how many four bedroom places are for rent and call on them. Maybe go look at them and see how they compare to the place you want. Follow up and see how long it takes them to get rented.

Michele Fischer · Answer

Our 4/1 always rents quickly, but is challenging to get market rent due to low supply. We get a premium, but i would rather buy 3/2 in our low income market. Extra room has been bedroom and office at various times.

Patrick L. · Answer

Absolutely there can be too many bedrooms or too few bedrooms depending on the market.  I just passed on a 6/3 that was in decent shape and priced really well last week.  It's in a low income neighborhood where I have other rentals but nobody there is going to pay a big premium for 6 bedrooms or 3 baths.  People in that neighborhood would love a 3/2 or 4/2 but a 6/3 does add much rental value above the 4/2.  It also means that much more traffic in the rest of the house and 2 extra bedrooms and 1 extra bath to rehab when they move out and an extra set of plumbing fixtures to break while they're there.  If it were in an upscale neighborhood those extra bedrooms would definitely add value again where a family could have a home office, a guest room, maybe a home gym, rooms for each of the kids, etc.

Are there ever too many bedrooms in a unit?

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