Need help - Offer Time, but is the rent right?

[John Van Fosen]

Guys -

I've been looking for a property for a while now. I posted a few weeks back about a duplex with good numbers. That deal fell through because another investor beat me to the table with an offer.

I've found another property I'm interested in, this time it is a 3/1.5 single family home in a decent working class neighborhood. The home is on Heaton Road in Columbus, Ohio.

I'm having trouble determining what the rent should be. Using Rentometer.com I come up with 950-1100/month rent. Using Padmapper.com, I come up with around 780/month rent. I couldn't find anything in the area on Craigslist other than the apartments mentioned below & by padmapper.

I've driven the neighborhood and there is a complete lack of "For Rent" signs out.

So the deal is make/break on the monthly rent:

- $800/month the deal is too thin, with predicted cash flow at $42/month, Cap rate at 11.5% and CoC of 3.1%

- $950/month the deal is pretty solid with cash flow at $168/month, Cap rate 14.1%, and CoC of 12.4%

Home details:

-Home is owned by Fannie Mae. I'm trying to purchase for approximately 40k.

-Home needs about 25k in rehab. It will be a nice home for the area, but not top of the line.

-I'm approved for financing that requires 25% down, therefore I am financing the rehab costs. Interest rate is approximately 5.1%. (I only have about 21k cash to invest)

-The rear of the home faces the "Sunny Isle" apartment complex (http://www.apartments.com/Ohio/Columbus/Sunny-Isle-Apartments/654397?resp=true#media-photos) - these small 3 bedroom apartments rent for 600/month including utilities.

-1640 sq ft + 2 car garage + Storage shed

So my questions:

-What do you think would be a reasonable rent for this place?

-How can I get more accurate rent estimate? Are there other places to check?

-Is there a rule of thumb for pricing single family homes compared to apartment complexes in the same area?