Curiousity killed the landord?

[junesrose.livejournal.com]

Hello all,

I have a question, an informal poll of sorts.

I'm at the beginning stages of remodeling my mother's house (she's not living there anymore). It's a two family home. The downstairs apt right now is a one bedroom.

Here's where your sage wisdom/expertise comes in:

I have the ability of making this space a nice, big, one bedroom apartment with a huge eat-in kitchen, large living room and bedroom; or I can take that "extra" room (the kitchen, believe it or not) and turn it into a second bedroom, and make a smaller galley-like kitchen, open to a common room/living room area, which, overall, would not be that big.

I know that it's difficult to visualize, and ultimately, it's my decision, but I"m just looking for what YOU ALL would be looking for in an apartment as a single renter, or with one other roommate.

As a single renter, is the kitchen important to you? The bigger the better? I know that kitchens in homes are massive these days, but do you all look for that in apartments too? Do you young'uns spend time in the kitchen like us old folk?

And, if you were to move in with someone else (have a roomate), how important is a larger kitchen for you? Do you consider the size of the living room/common space or are the bedrooms more important when sharing an apartment (these two bedrooms would be a good size).

Ok, I'm being redundant on both questions, just humor me.....


Also, in general, how important are laundry facilities on-site (ok, I think I know the answer to this one, but I'm throwing it out there as well...)??

Thanks in advance!

:D

~@~@~@~

ADDENDUM-DUM

Er... I know I should be asking a realtor this question, and I have fair idea, but what's the going rate these days for a large one bedroom apt close (VERY CLOSE) to Davis sq?????

Comments

[mjrocks98.livejournal.com]

For me, I'd love to be able to afford a 1 bedroom in this area, but have no choice but to get a 2 bedroom & split with a roommate. In the kitchen cabinets are important. So many kitchens that I've looked at in the area don't have the cabinets above the counter & to me that's a huge sticking point. I can deal with a small kitchen as long as there are cabinets. Laundry is important. I won't look at a place that doesn't have hook ups. I don't need the landlord to provide me with the washer & dryer, just the hook ups. I've asked a few landlords that didn't have hook ups if they would consider adding them & most have turned me down, so now I only look for apartments that already have them.

[greyling.livejournal.com]

mjrocks brings up an interesting point, which is that this question may be slightly ill-posed. You will be looking at a different set of potential renters if you remodel into a 2-BR situation than you would if you stayed in a 1-BR situation; the question, then, isn't "what would you prefer" but rather, "given the current market in Davis, would a 2BR with a small kitchen get better rent/better renters compared to a luxurious 1BR with a large kitchen?"

Which I think might be a question for a real estate agent to answer.

My gut feelings on the situation are that a 2BR place is typically rented to at least 2 (if not more) people. Would the rooms be somewhat evenly sized? If you have one room that is much smaller than the other, you'll find it harder to rent to students - they'll have to divide the rent unevenly amongst themselves (which they can do, but it gets trickier). You'll find it slightly easier to rent to a couple with a child (or planning a child); the nursery is pretty sweet. If you have a 2BR, you should model your kitchen such that its big enough for at least two people to use it comfortably; is there enough room to store food for 2 people? Is there enough counterspace for 2 cooks working simultaneously?

yes and no

[totient]

I rent a 2BR with small bedrooms and a galley kitchen to a young couple, who don't cook and really only use one of the bedrooms. But the large amount of common space and the on site laundry makes the apartment worth a lot to them. As a landlord, I'd be more worried about making the living room smaller (it sounds like there's no dining room in the apartment you're talking about) than about the size of the kitchen.

The apartment I rent out has laundry machines in the basement (shared with another apartment) and also hookups in a closet in the apartment proper. No tenant has ever bothered hooking up machines. Seems to me like if you do add hookups, they needn't be in that big kitchen.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

wrt room sizing - but also will say i know a lot of couples moving in together for the first time and knowing enough to value space, so one is the main bedroom, and the other is a smaller guestroom, office space, i hate you right now and this is better than sleeping on the couch space, etc. ;D

[tamalinn.livejournal.com]

i hate you right now and this is better than sleeping on the couch space
heh. my ex and i called that "the sulking room".

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

If you're thinking of making it a place to attract to people with or planning for a child, don't forget about the lead issue.

If you're already renovating, consider deleading now and getting it over with. It'll open your renter options and also give you some extra appeal.