Shoud I add a 3rd BR and 2nd Bath to my single family rental

[Jonathan Partsch]

Hello,

I have just the one house, which I inherited this year and plan to convert to a rental. It's a 2 bed 1 bath Cape Cod in the Eastmoor neighborhood of Columbus. I am hoping to start renovations soon (and could use advice on contractor too). This neighborhood has a wide range of quality. My house is in a somewhat better part of the area (north of Main, east of James) where the houses sell for $150,000 to $250,000. I would like to finish the upper level into a 3rd bedroom and 2nd bath if the rental market in this neighborhood is likely to support that over the next 10-15 years. How can I determine this? Does anyone own in this neighborhood who might be able to advise me? How much of a rent premium can the market support for an additional bedroom and bath in this area? I'd need to be able to get at least $300 to $500 more per month to make this worth it.

I'm also looking for recommendations for a property manager. Again, I just have this one house, so the PM should be someone who works in this area and does single family homes for very small-scale owners like me.

Thanks in advance for your help!

~ Jon