Tues. Afternoon Rental Option – “How Much Should I Charge?”

“Dear PoP,

I purchased a 2 bedroom condo last week at Holmead Place and Newton Street in Columbia Heights with the plan of renting it out. It is in a 4 unit building that was completely renovated in 2006 and I just repainted and fixed up everything in my unit. It has 2 full bathrooms, 10 foot ceilings, W/D, tandem parking space (2 cars can fit), private deck, W/D, tiled shower/tub, requisite stainless steel appliances, and a huge granite counter. The location is perfect in CH — 3-4 blocks to everything.

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here is the slide show.
http://picasaweb.google.com/fjordlevy/20091HolmeadPlace#

Any ideas on what it should rent for? I have seen 1 bedrooms listed as high as $2100 and my wife rents out her 1 bedroom for $1800 at 15th and Fuller. Based on the rents that I am seeing, it seems like an attractive price is $2200. It is completely vacant and ready to go so I don’t want it to sit on the market too long. I am surprised that there isn’t more of a premium on two bedrooms as they can be used by roommates, couples, and wealthier singles. Do you think that high flying singles just look at 1 bedrooms and skip over the two bedroom options? From the prices that I am seeing, it seems like you could get much more for your money by renting a two bedroom.”

Hmm, I’m thinking you could probably ask $2400 for a 2 bedroom and parking at this location. What do you guys think? Are 2 bedrooms harder to rent out than 1 bedrooms?