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Updated 4 days ago on . Most recent reply

Best practices for determining the right rent to charge
Hi I recently purchased a single-family home to house hack. It's a 5 bed, 4 bath where the top floor has 4 bedrooms and the main floor has the master (where I will stay). The home is 3200 sq ft plus a finished basement. The backyard is landscaped and has a large deck and lawn. The driveway is extra wide and there are parking spaces on the street as well. The garage will be converted to a Golf simulator and gaming/movie space. The basement has a pool table, full bar and media space.
My question is how should I determine the right rent to charge in a place like this. On one hand I want to charge $1500 for the two larger bedrooms and $1250 for the smaller even though the entire upstairs would be sharing the upstairs bathroom (although two could take the main floor bathroom if 4 people in a bathroom is too much).
I feel like the added golf simulator (which normally costs $40/hr at public facilities) is a huge added value for those people who play golf and would not mind the higher rent payment. Living in a nicer home is a big perk as well as the fact the home is minutes from a train to downtown Chicago or 80 and 355 highways.
The only limiting factor for me is that I cannot afford to pay the full mortgage, taxes, and insurance for more than 2 months without renters so I don't want to price myself out of the market if $1500 for a room that shares a bath is just too much to ask no matter how many perks are involved.
I'd love your ideas or input especially if you know the area and have managed this sort of challenge before. Even if not in Joliet or surrounding areas, if you have some insights as to what renters would be willing to pay for and why (what do they care for most) or ways to encourage the type of renters I want who will be willing to pay the premium I'd love to hear from you!
Most Popular Reply

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- Narragansett, RI
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@Ben Rosenblum you lost me at the top flooring with 4 bedrooms having only one bathroom despite 4 baths in the house. I think rooms with en-suite bathrooms rent for more when you do room rentals so keep that in mind. You might not be looking at renting all these bedrooms at what you intend to charge but I don't know your area. I doubt you are going to do more than get more interest and some buddies out of a golf simulator and a media room. Look at Furnished finder and zillow listings to see what a room might get in your area. How did you get a mortgage if you can't go two months without renters to afford the mortgage?