Price per square foot when all other things are equal.

[Craig Parsons]

So I am looking at a property in which I think the asking price is a bit high. My reasoning is based on comparison of rent to price ratio and square footage of other properties on the market.

So for sake of discussion let's pretend we have 2 houses side by side that both currently bring in 1% of asking price from rent. Both places are tri plexes.

The catch is one house is 2.9 times larger in square foot than the other but it's only about 15% more expensive.

My question is how much of a bargaining chip is the size factor when negotiating with the seller?

There are other factors as well such as the larger property is one 4 bedroom unit with two 1 bedrooms. And the smaller is two 2 bedroom units and one one bedroom unit. Does this affect my offer price as well?

Thanks for reading and hopefully discussing!

[Erik W.]

Is bigger really better?  Sometimes yes.  Sometimes no.

Case in point #1:  a married couple with 4 kids would probably like more space, so the bigger unit should rent for more if you are consciously target marketing for large families.  Which I would never do unless it was in a very covert way since discriminations is not allowed based on family status.

Case in point #2: House that is 2.9x bigger will be 3x more expensive to carpet, heat, cool, clean, roof, etc.  So land lord and single or couple tenants with no kids both might prefer a smaller house that is less expensive to maintain and with a smaller utility bill.

This is all hypothetical though.  In reality there are always differences and distinctions that can make the price considerably different, even within neighborhoods.  Buy whatever makes sense for a price Sellers will agree to accept.