Will adding a bathroom increase rental income?

[Ian Lord]

Hello all,

I just purchased a house in Roanoke, VA as my primary residence for the next four years. It is a 3 bed, 1.5 bath and I plan on renting it out after I move. It appears I could add a wall and add a bathroom to one of the larger bedrooms, creating a master suite on the second story. This would leave two other bedrooms with their own full bath.

Looking at Rentometer, and Zillow, it appears I can break even on the PITI payment by self managing by renting the place out for $1300. Would an extra bath in a master suite help squeeze an extra hundred bucks or two a month out of the place? For me it would be nice to have the extra bathroom for the next few years, but it isn't something I would do unless it led to increase in property or rental value.

For some insight on the deal, I slightly overpaid for the house in order to save other expenses in my daily life by living closer to my wife's work. The trade off might even allow us to become a one car family. I don't mind feeding the house a few hundred each month, since I can always refinance and plan on paying the house off within the next 10 years.