I saw a 2 bd/1 ba duplex - both sides have 2 bdrms. Anyone own them ? Is it hard to find tenants?
Not really that hard to rent, usually…you just won’t get a lot of families. You’ll get mostly single folks or a couple who will use the 2nd bedroom for a guest room or an office…
Keith
I have quite a few 2/1 apartments. Most of mine are on Section 8 and rented to young single women with a kid or two. Two bedroom and three bedroom are the most requested units for Section 8.
Mike
all i buy is 2 br i get couple or single people with one or two kids also when it time get them ready for a move in it dont cost as much as a 3 br or 4br far as the rent there only a 50 dollar different in my area
I’m in NYC, and residential areas are full of 2 to 3 families consisting of 2/1’s. For me, they are far easier to rent out.
3/2’s in NYC $200/month more on the average. People renting them are families needing a place while looking to buy a house, and gone shortly. Other than that, I’ll get 3 to 4 roommates, very unstable, as the whole group usually would have to leave as the group can’t pay the rent if one person leaves or is out of work.
Or else, the rent would be late as they look for a third tenant, and I get tenants coming and going. In one case, I had so many come and go that I don’t know who’s the tenant, and who the visitor.
I found 2/1’s more stable, and I generally get:
- Families no longer able to afford 3/2’s. They move in, and they not going to move out for something cheaper since they can’t fit in anything smaller.
- Retired couples, divorce singles needing an extra room for kids or grandchildren to stay on visits.
- Single people living in SFH’s, or 3/2 all their lives, either finding 1 BR too small and uncomfortable, accumulated too many things to fit into a 1BR.
- More usual renter for a 2BR is a successful professional, single or a couple, that wants a room to sleep in, and another as an office, study, storeroom, guest room.
- Two roommates, finding 1BR’s too expensive. Rents go for $1,000 for a 1BR in NYC, whereas a 2BR can be had for $1,200 to $1,400/month, making it much more affordable.
There’s far more types of people looking for 2BR’s as compared to 3/2’s where I am. I find far fewer families of 4 looking to rent, and far fewer groups of 3 to 4 roommates compared to 2. Even if I find them, I got nothing but trouble renting to unrelated groups of 3 or more.
For 2/1’s In fact, I have rentals that started off as two roommate, but when the other left, the remaining roommate can usually swing the rent by himself or herself, and stay on for a while.
Renters for 2/1’s I find are far more stable than those staying in 1/1’s. One BR tenants stay on the average one year, for job, or family reasons. Nowadays, I screen tenant for 1/1 to make sure they stay for a while, renting to older stable tenants.
Bottomline:
The demographic makeup makes 2/1’s far easier to rent compared to 3/2’s and 1/1’s here as I can rent to so many different groups, such as families of 2 to 4, 2 or 3 roommates, retired couples, single professionals, single divorced, newly married couples.
In fact, I would think familes of 4 needing to rent 3/2’s are a minority compared to all the others. Nowadays, a family of four would either buy a 3/2 house, and if they can’t afford it, go for a 2/1.
Schweet. thanks, all. I found a 2/1 duplex. I was just analyzing the potential for renters.