4BR/1BA Student rental house rent question

[Austin Jones]

Good morning!  Long time lurker here.  Glad to finally start participating. I'm currently in the process of searching for my second investment property.  My first was a townhouse near my residence.  The second one will be a rental house for students near a major university.  The average rents in that 8 block neighborhood go from $450-$800 per bedroom depending how close you are to campus (ie, houses on 1st ave rent for about twice as much as houses 8th ave).  

The house I'm interested in buying is on 7th ave, so on the further away end of the neighborhood, but still in the ideal zero vacancy part of town.  The problem is that it is a 4BR/1BA and they are renting it for $1450/mo which is $362.50/bedroom.  Houses on the same street rent for $500/mo so I can't understand why.  My only thought is that it's either:

1) The 1 bathroom effect

2) The current owner is an old man who is tired of landlording, hence why he's selling and he just hasnt kept up with market rents.

Question is for owners of student rentals:  I know that the name of the game in student rentals is to get as many bedrooms as possible into a space, even at the expense of dining rooms or additional living space.  This went from a 2BR to a 4BR by finishing the garage for example.  Have you noticed that having a higher bedroom to bathroom ratio has seriously decreased your tenant pool and therefore potential rents?

Thanks and sorry for the long post!