What is a fair rent for 700 sq. feet in suburban Virginia?

March 28, 2009 10:57 AM

Help my sister determine how much rent to charge!

My sister is looking to rent out a room in her house, which is located in a comfortable subdivision in Chesterfield Virginia, just outside of Richmond.

The space she wants to rent is an Attic space of around 700 square feet.

Amenities include:

Free wifi and cable television.
access to neighborhood swimming pool
garage space for car
plenty of common space, including a screened porch

Downside:
On the weekends when my sister has custody of her daughters (approximately two weekends per month), room mate will need to share her bathroom.

My sister is thinking about charging $700/month, which is comparable to apartment shares she's seen listed that include a lot less space, but completely private bathrooms.

Are there any online tools out there for determining what would be fair or reasonable for sister to charge?

posted by Sara Anne to home & garden (3 comments total)

Listing on Craigslist is free and the best way to find the value of something is to find the people actually willing to pay for it. I'd start by asking for more than you think is average (let's say $800 in this case) and then adjust depending on the responses.
posted by winston at 11:00 AM on March 28

I have a neighbor with a two-family house and a rental apartment. She got two local realtors to come visit, look at the apartment, and tell her what to charge for it. Realtors live by their ability to network, so you should be able to find some willing to do this for you, even if you aren't planning to use their services immediately to rent it.
posted by alms at 12:43 PM on March 28

Try Rentometer. It's mostly based off Craigslist, location, and apartment size, but it would give you a starting point to figure the pros and cons you also have listed.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 1:36 PM on March 28 [1 favorite has favorites]