How much to add to rent for a private bathroom and a semi kitchen

Question

I'm going to be managing a rental in a high demand area. It's a small bedroom and under normal circumstances such bedrooms are charged as if the tenant would be sharing a bathroom and a kitchen with other tenants also sharing a room, while also using a shared entrance.

Assuming it would be the case here, the price for my room based on the location and size would be between $722 and $920, with the average being $845. Let's assume the base for mine is in the middle or closer to the upper scale since the condition is good and the location is top notch.

In this case, however, the bedroom is actually a mini studio since it has a special entrance that other tenants would not use.

On top of that the bedroom has a small private bathroom (shower, toilet, sink, excellent cabinet with a mirror), with a slide door separating it from the room.

Finally the bedroom has a built in kitchen, including a stove, a fan, microwave, refrigerator, freezer and cabinets and drawers with plenty of space to prepare food.

The room still has space for a large TV and a coach or a desk or a table or whatever the tenant desires to place there. It also has a very nice window. Sure, the place is a bit crowded but it's well structured.

I can't seem to find a straightforward answer to my question which is:

How much more can I reasonably charge based on these extra features that other bedrooms in the area do not have that I have to figure out the local prices? I.e. private bathroom, private kitchen area (small within the bedroom though) and a private entrance.

I understand that It comes down to supply and demand but hopefully you can give me an idea of in which direction I can go when pricing the bedroom / mini studio.

I asked a similar question recently that only addressed a private bathroom and while it helped somewhat I'm a bit stuck here.

Thanks in advance!

Jónas Tryggvi Stefánsson · Answer

Thanks for your input. Yeah that's an important point.

Jerry Wolf · Answer

I have a property with a somewhat similar situation - The master bedroom on each side of my duplex has a private entrance and private bathroom. I installed a deadbolt in the adjoining doors and have rented out each of those bedrooms as "efficiency units." There are no kitchen amenities, but the tenants provided their own microwave, mini fridge, etc. I listed the unfurnished units above what private, furnished bedrooms (with shared kitchen and bathroom access) and just under what a traditional efficiency apartment would command in my market. I received an overwhelming response on both of these units and had multiple, qualified applicants within a week of listing them.

I'm sure you've already considered this, but you also will need to decide if/which utilities will be included in the rent and if not, how they will be split.

Hope this helps.

I'm sure you've already considered this, but you also will need to decide if/which utilities will be included in the rent and if not, how they will be split.

Hope this helps.

Jónas Tryggvi Stefánsson · Answer

My current solution is to evaluate the base price of the room and then I add the estimated monthly deprecation amount of the bathroom and the kitchen area and a new door for argument sake to have something to evaluate the private entrance, although it could be argued to be valued at more than that. Maybe not perfect but sounds reasonable. Going to see how it goes.

Jónas Tryggvi Stefánsson · Answer

Thanks for the responses.

In my area the rental price for each square(foot/meter) is significantly higher for shared bedrooms than for studio apartments and single/double room apartments.

If I were just to look at the size and price it based as a studio apartment it would be less than a shared bedroom with nothing in it.

Rooms of this kind are significantly rare in this area as I can't seem to find them. Sure I'll dig deeper, but surely there must be other ways.

Maybe I'm missing a very obvious solution, to see the price difference in different countries than mine (very small) and look at the price percentage difference.

Bjorn Ahlblad · Answer

@Jonas Tryggvi Steffanson have you tried to do a comparison for studio apartments? Maybe price it at 50 dollars per month less than a one bedroom of similar quality?

Patrick Liska · Answer

That all depends on your market,you did not say where this is, what I would do is look online at what area rents are and what they include. if you can find one similar to yours, that will give you an idea of what you can charge. another thing you can do is call a couple of local realtors, either ask them what they would charge or pretend you are looking for a place to rent and want to know what the average cost for an apartment with an attached bath would run in that area.

How much to add to rent for a private bathroom and a semi kitchen

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