How to Determine Market Rent

[Michael Lamb]

I am looking at purchasing a duplex in Twinsburg, OH, as a primary residence.  I plan on living in one side while renting the other side, so I can take advantage of putting 5% down.  My goal is to move out after a year and be able to cash flow once both sides are rented.  My problem is being able to determine what I will be able to rent each side of the duplex for.  

I can't find comps in the area to get a good feel for rental rates. I have a Rentometer account, but it isn't pulling good comps either. I am new to REI, so I don't have a good agent to get numbers from and I don't have any Property Management contacts to talk to.

Does anyone know where I can go, to get a feel for what I could rent a (3) bed, (1-1/2) bath, 1,200 sqft duplex in Twinsburg, OH for?

I appreciate any guidance you could provide.

[Bob Stevens]

Quote from @Michael Lamb:

I am looking at purchasing a duplex in Twinsburg, OH, as a primary residence.  I plan on living in one side while renting the other side, so I can take advantage of putting 5% down.  My goal is to move out after a year and be able to cash flow once both sides are rented.  My problem is being able to determine what I will be able to rent each side of the duplex for.  

I can't find comps in the area to get a good feel for rental rates. I have a Rentometer account, but it isn't pulling good comps either. I am new to REI, so I don't have a good agent to get numbers from and I don't have any Property Management contacts to talk to.

Does anyone know where I can go, to get a feel for what I could rent a (3) bed, (1-1/2) bath, 1,200 sqft duplex in Twinsburg, OH for?

I appreciate any guidance you could provide.

 just go to Zillow and click on the "rent" button for the area, good luck , Oh also call a PM co in the area 

[Michael Lamb]

Bob, I have gone through that exercise and came up empty. There is very limited supply of active listings and nothing comparable. The couple places that pop up are SFHs or (2) bed condos.

[Bob Stevens]

Quote from @Michael Lamb:

Bob, I have gone through that exercise and came up empty. There is very limited supply of active listings and nothing comparable. The couple places that pop up are SFHs or (2) bed condos.

 It took me under 20 seconds to get an idea seems like about 2kish, Call a local PM co, or simple look on their sites, 

Good luck 

[Adam Bartomeo]

If you don't have contacts, then pick up the phone and start dialing. Call PM's to get an idea of what they would rent it for.

[Bob Stevens]

Quote from @Adam Bartomeo:

If you don't have contacts, then pick up the phone and start dialing. Call PM's to get an idea of what they would rent it for.

 THANK YOU!!!! 

[Michael McVety]

Hi Michael.

There is a lot I can say to your post!  Most places, like Zillow or Apartments or Rent are all a good place to start.  Yes, you can call a local PM as well!  Keep in mind that the rental amount depends on when you rent it (since you have not bought it yet).  So, as an example, if you look today and you see that various sources lead you to believe that you can rent it for $1500/ month, that number can change quickly in a week (let alone 3 months) based on other factors in your local area - such as a similar property suddenly gets put on the market for rent.

In addition, there are different ways to approach your rental amount.  Do you want to have multiple applicants with a slightly lower market rent amount versus trying to get the most rent out of it but with few applicants?  You are living next door for a year so your choice to rent to someone may have a direct impact on your life (unless you are not home most of the time).

Cheers and good luck!

[Gino Barbaro]

@Michael Lamb

You can always go to apartments.com. Or find a couple of comps and call the management companies asking what the rents are

Gino