MTR strategy in New Orleans

[Damon Aniton]

I recently went under contract on a duplex in New Orleans and am evaluating several rental strategies upon closing. STR seems to not even be an option for at the very least the next 3 or so months because New Orleans is the definition of stupid. With that said I have 2 options when it comes to an MTR rental. The property is 2 3br 3 full bath with 2 en suites per unit.

Option 1: list and rent as 1 complete 3 bed 3 bath rental

Option 2: list and rent as 1 bed 1 bath with locks on the bedrooms and 1 "common" bathroom for privacy.

Market rents for the city can be all over the place.  But depending on where in the city a house with this layout is located it can be as low as say $1800mo and the similar spec'd brand new house next door is listed for $2300mo.  But it does not have 3 full bathrooms nor 2 masters. So my guess is I could go as high as $2400-2500 as an LTR.  So on the low side $3000-3500 would be a good range as an MTR.

All of this is factoring in only renting 1 unit as I will keep/stay in the other for the next 12mo as this is on a VA loan.