trumpeting_angel
Full time employment: Posting here.
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2004
- Messages
- 526
You may remember that, back in the pleasant days of spring, trumpeting angel was looking for an investment property. She found one, was the successful bidder, and a series of bizarre delays occurred while the bank that owned it was swallowed by another bank, causing a very serious case of bureaucrats who couldn't get out of their own way to sell a house that was, essentially, already sold.
But that's water under the bridge. As fall approaches, I am closing on this house. And receiving conflicting advice from knowledgeable people. Here's the conflict: the house is a duplex with 2 br on each side. My knowledgeable realtor says that 2 br's are plentiful in this small city, and that this house could make real money if the walk-up attic were converted to make it a 3- or 4-br. So I have planned to do this, have the funds for the work set aside.
Enter a good friend who has been a landlord for 18 years. She and her husband suggest that 2 brs are far superior, because of the tenants they attract. That the 3 or 4 br apartments they own tend to attract families with lots of (destructive) kids, who are loud, disturbing the other tenants, and messy, and leave a lot of damage in their wake. They both felt that the higher rent it would command was not worth the headaches of renting a 3- or 4-br apartment.
Anyone else have a thought about this? Or better yet, experience with renting apartments that would bear on my dilemma? I can happily avoid some remodeling and get the second apartment rented much more quickly if I don't add the bedrooms.
As usual, your ideas and opinions are welcome, as are your off-topic ramblings and baseless assertions.
Anne
But that's water under the bridge. As fall approaches, I am closing on this house. And receiving conflicting advice from knowledgeable people. Here's the conflict: the house is a duplex with 2 br on each side. My knowledgeable realtor says that 2 br's are plentiful in this small city, and that this house could make real money if the walk-up attic were converted to make it a 3- or 4-br. So I have planned to do this, have the funds for the work set aside.
Enter a good friend who has been a landlord for 18 years. She and her husband suggest that 2 brs are far superior, because of the tenants they attract. That the 3 or 4 br apartments they own tend to attract families with lots of (destructive) kids, who are loud, disturbing the other tenants, and messy, and leave a lot of damage in their wake. They both felt that the higher rent it would command was not worth the headaches of renting a 3- or 4-br apartment.
Anyone else have a thought about this? Or better yet, experience with renting apartments that would bear on my dilemma? I can happily avoid some remodeling and get the second apartment rented much more quickly if I don't add the bedrooms.
As usual, your ideas and opinions are welcome, as are your off-topic ramblings and baseless assertions.
Anne