House (condo) Hacking - Alexandria, VA

[William Segal]

Hi All, 

I wanted to gauge some interest / feedback on here before I go forth with a potential off-market deal that I have before me. Long in short, I have the opportunity to buy a 940 sqft 2br 2ba condo in Alexandria, VA, which has a shuttle that runs every 30 minutes to the Pentagon City Metro, allowing for easy transit access. In order to make the numbers work however, I need to convert the living room into my bedroom with a divider in order to be able to rent both rooms. I wanted to get some info from those who know the market well (I will be moving from Boston this summer), to see how easy it would be to find tenants that would be willing to pay for / live in such a situation. I am under no illusion for how tight such a space can be with the living room occupied with an extra person, and how many would want to have more space to themselves. Do tenants in room rentals that do not know one another generally use the living room, or do they usually stay confined in their bedrooms when home? The place is currently getting about $1,100 per room, or $2,200 total, and I am well aware of the fact that I will have to drop the rents from that level once I take ownership if I move into the living room. But my concern is that this may be a dealbreaker for so many potential tenants where they will choose not to live there, and I will then either have to charge so little in rent that this does not make sense, or move into one of the rooms which would greatly hurt the deal.

Can someone who is familiar with house hacking / room rentals in the DC metro please provide some feedback? Some local insight would be a huge help!

Thanks, 

William