Do you need 2 bathrooms for a rental?

Question

Hey BP, looking for advice on how much it matters with buying 2 full baths over a 1.5 in SFH for long term rentals. There are many deals of SFH with 3/1.5 but my property manager/realtor thinks they won't rent. Obviously she would know more than me but interested in your experience with owning and renting out SFH with less than 2 bathrooms. My thought: I'm currently renting a 3/1.5 overseas and have 2 young daughters and this is absolutely no problem as they still take baths and we don't need two showers. I assume there are plenty of families in the same boat. Thoughts? thanks Chris

Charlie MacPherson · Answer

@Christopher Giorgi Individual markets may vary, but around here, there is FAR more difference between 1 and 1.5 baths than there is between 1.5 and 2 baths.Think of it this way. The family is sitting around watching football (American or European football - doesn't matter).Daughter is in the full bath, plastering on the war paint (makeup) for a big date and she's taking her sweet time, as daughters are wont to do. Dad has been chugging a few (or several) beers and REALLY needs to pee.If there's only one bath, Dad is going to pee in the backyard. Neighbors call the police. Dad gets arrested for peeing in public. Dad has to register as a sex offender. Dad's job as an elementary school teacher is over. Dad's retirement plan goes with it. Dad is now unemployed and broke. The family can't afford your rental any more and you have them evicted. With an eviction on their record and a sex offender registration, nobody will rent to them. Now they all live in a homeless shelter. Their lives spiral out of control. Kicked out of the homeless shelter, they spend the rest of their days walking from one soup kitchen to the next. Tired, bedraggled and hopeless, Dad eventually jumps off a bridge to end it all in a watery grave.OR...you could have had that extra half bath and none of that would have happened.Doesn't that seem like a better option?

Sylvia B. · Answer

My 12 SFRs:1 - 2/13 - 3/13 - 3/1.51 - 3/21 - 3/2.52 - 4/21 - 4/2.5They all stay rented, all the time.

Charlie MacPherson · Answer

@Christopher Giorgi Humor aside, my point was that with at least 1.5 baths, a home is a lot more attractive. The second bath being a FULL bath isn't an especially big deal.Yes, of course, it's better to have two full baths, but I wouldn't let 1.5 baths dissuade me.Just for fun, I just ran the numbers on rentals in my own town of Plymouth, MA. In the last 6 months, there were 98 units rented. 64 had only 1 bath, 9 had 1.5 baths, 27 had 2 full baths or more.

Joe Splitrock · Answer

@Christopher Giorgi all my SFH have 3 or 4 bedrooms and 1.75 (Stand up shower) or 2 bath. I would say only 1 in 3 tenants actually uses the second shower, but I like having it because it does make the property more appealing. You can get by with 1.5 though.

Alexander Felice · Answer

I invest in Fayetteville heavily.If you can convert it to a 3/2 (which I do often) then absolutely do it. the second bath full bath is often a big help in this market.

Account Closed · Answer

Keep in mind, 3/1.5 can turn into 3 & ~1.75 if you’ve got the opportunity to throw a double vanity in there. If you’ve got greater than 48” for a vanity, ALWAYS throw a double in if replacing. Instantly ups your rental appeal to younger females.

Alexander Felice · Answer

I have Little and Young as HOA managers for one of the condo's I own.Bill little started that company decades ago, and he's a great guy, but as with any business you turn over to your kids: it degrades. Bill technically retired about ~6 years ago now but I don't think he can fully leave out of fear of collapse. His kids just don't care about it as much, and it shows. Not to say you can't get decent PM out of them, but I've watched their quality degrade for almost a decade now. Stewarts creek is unlikely to ever recover. Didn't the last HOA go bust and L&Y take it over? That place went from decent to treacherous over the last few years too. Not too say money can't be made there, but it's unlikely to ever get capital reinvestment again.

Christopher G. · Answer

@Andrew K. thanks. I just bought a 3/2 in Spring Lake that I think is way under valued and should be a great long term rental. Looking in B neighborhoods but there is a lot of warzones at Bragg and my property manager turns down a lot of the properties I send her to look at. Rents are lower now than when I bought my first condo there in 2006...

Andrew K. · Answer

Christopher Giorgi I also invest in Fayetteville, although I’d just moved to TX. Still looking for more property there though! A consideration, as a guy with three young kids, is that the extra bathroom is a necessity. Almost equally important is ensuring you have a bathtub in the house. I’ve seen many small SFHs in Fayetteville where someone ripped out the tub in favor of a nice, tiled shower. Looks great, but those with small kids will think twice about renting the place. Also, your competition in the $800-1000 price point is stiff. Get the extra bathroom! What areas of the ‘Ville are you focused on? I have a place off Cliffdale-very convenient given all the new shopping centers going in. Good luck! -Andrew

Alexander Felice · Answer

lots of people and resources in this thread that are familiar with the area and can get you good ground teams. Don't hesitate to reach out.My only concern with stewarts creek is that it will never recover. Some of the sister properties like Barton Landing which were nice for decades, are also starting to slip pretty bad. I think in 10-15 years or so little and young will be gone and those places will have a very unsure future. It's probably fine for the short term though. People still live there and it's not a war zone. I stayed there actually in an airB&B a few months ago while I went back to check up on units. It was fairly livable ;)