3 different rooms so 3 different rents?
January 15, 2010 2:15 PM Subscribe
I'm in the hunt for some new roommates in this house, and I'd like suggestions on how best to divvy up rent based on bedroom size and amenities. Also, how should I go about listing the rooms for rent here in central Los Angeles?
It's a 3-bedroom house with 3 distinct bedroom sizes and rent is 1600/mo.
Room 1 is the smallest at ~100sqft. with a large closet space.
Room 2 is ~170sqft. with a regular-sized closet. These two rooms both use the front bathroom (2 sinks, 1 t 1 b/s).
Room 2 is the master bedroom, ~240sqft. with its own bathroom (1 sink, 1 t, 1 b/s), a private door to the outside, and a very large closet space.
Everything else is shared/equal. I've been living with a friend and her fiance, but they're doing the marriage ritual and moving away. Currently they're in the master bedroom and use the smallest bedroom as an office/storage. I'm in the medium-sized room and use the front bathroom exclusively. We've been splitting rent equally three ways in this arrangement, with great success. As the current setup has been pretty much ideal, I would love to replicate it (without the moving away part). But I'm not sure of the likelihood of that happening, so I would like to be prepared to make good, fair offers to separate potential roommates.
As for listings, I just put up a Westside Rentals listing for the whole shebang that explained there were 2 of the 3 bedrooms for rent. Is there a better way to go about that?
It's a 3-bedroom house with 3 distinct bedroom sizes and rent is 1600/mo.
Room 1 is the smallest at ~100sqft. with a large closet space.
Room 2 is ~170sqft. with a regular-sized closet. These two rooms both use the front bathroom (2 sinks, 1 t 1 b/s).
Room 2 is the master bedroom, ~240sqft. with its own bathroom (1 sink, 1 t, 1 b/s), a private door to the outside, and a very large closet space.
Everything else is shared/equal. I've been living with a friend and her fiance, but they're doing the marriage ritual and moving away. Currently they're in the master bedroom and use the smallest bedroom as an office/storage. I'm in the medium-sized room and use the front bathroom exclusively. We've been splitting rent equally three ways in this arrangement, with great success. As the current setup has been pretty much ideal, I would love to replicate it (without the moving away part). But I'm not sure of the likelihood of that happening, so I would like to be prepared to make good, fair offers to separate potential roommates.
As for listings, I just put up a Westside Rentals listing for the whole shebang that explained there were 2 of the 3 bedrooms for rent. Is there a better way to go about that?
No suggestion on dividing up the rent fairly, except perhaps that you should think more about what the rooms will actually rent for, than what's strictly fair - there's so much vacant rental property in LA right now that I think you might have trouble renting the smallest one unless it's really cheap.
I think you'll probably have better luck with Craigslist than Westside Rentals for rooms (for whole apartments really), plus it's free!
posted by crabintheocean at 2:19 PM on January 15, 2010
I think you'll probably have better luck with Craigslist than Westside Rentals for rooms (for whole apartments really), plus it's free!
posted by crabintheocean at 2:19 PM on January 15, 2010
Westside Rentals and craigslist are pretty much the way to go. Craigslist reaches more people but a much higher fraction will be flakey. Westside Rentals costs money so that limits your market but also acts as a bit of an initial screen.
posted by Justinian at 2:20 PM on January 15, 2010
posted by Justinian at 2:20 PM on January 15, 2010
Where is this house? What do you mean by central?
posted by crabintheocean at 2:20 PM on January 15, 2010
posted by crabintheocean at 2:20 PM on January 15, 2010
Are there any OTHER spare rooms in the apartment you could tack on to the smallest bedroom, as kind of a way to make it "equal"? I have a similar case of inequitable bedrooms in my apartment -- but the apartment also has a nifty office space off the living room. When I moved into the apartment, the roommate I was moving in with made me the deal that I could get the big bedroom if she could have exclusive use of the office, and that set the precedent for all the other roomates I've had since then (we pay equal rent, only they get two small rooms and I get one big one).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:22 PM on January 15, 2010
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:22 PM on January 15, 2010
Response by poster: There's a link in my profile, crabintheocean, but the 'hood is called Frogtown and it's between Atwater Village and Silverlake/Echo Park
posted by carsonb at 2:22 PM on January 15, 2010
posted by carsonb at 2:22 PM on January 15, 2010
50% + 30% + 20% = 800 + 480 + 320
maybe 750/500/350 or 800/450/350
posted by rhizome at 2:23 PM on January 15, 2010
maybe 750/500/350 or 800/450/350
posted by rhizome at 2:23 PM on January 15, 2010
Response by poster: Are there any OTHER spare rooms in the apartment you could tack on to the smallest bedroom, as kind of a way to make it "equal"?
Nope, there's just a kitchen and a living room. Small room is small, so like I mentioned the current situation of a couple living in the master and using it as extra/office space has worked well.
posted by carsonb at 2:26 PM on January 15, 2010
Nope, there's just a kitchen and a living room. Small room is small, so like I mentioned the current situation of a couple living in the master and using it as extra/office space has worked well.
posted by carsonb at 2:26 PM on January 15, 2010
I would offer it two ways: as a master bedroom with office available to a couple for two thirds the rent (as before), or the middle and small rooms (and bathroom) to a couple for half the rent.
If the couple thing worked well for you before, keep looking for what you want.
posted by Kerasia at 2:45 PM on January 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
If the couple thing worked well for you before, keep looking for what you want.
posted by Kerasia at 2:45 PM on January 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
Is there any off-street parking? Is there enough for three cars/three rooms? As someone renting in Los Angeles that would be a question for me. Perhaps you could get away with $600 for the master, and then 500 for each of the two rooms if the smaller one came with the parking space. If there was an additional parking space, I'd go $600 for the master, $550 for the mid range (with parking) and $450 for the smallest with parking. If you have off-street for all three (or street for all three), I'd go with $750/500/350.
Also be sure to mention laundry in your ad. And if the bath is a full or 1/2 bath (i.e. only a shower). And your pet policy!
posted by pazazygeek at 3:14 PM on January 15, 2010
Also be sure to mention laundry in your ad. And if the bath is a full or 1/2 bath (i.e. only a shower). And your pet policy!
posted by pazazygeek at 3:14 PM on January 15, 2010
I live right around the corner from you. I don't know how to divide it up, but wanted to let you know that I rent a bedroom in my place for $500/mo. It is about 120 sqft and I had no problem getting people on craigslist. It is a room only, not a full apartment share, but we split the kitchen and bathroom.
(just for comparison, if you need it)
posted by Vaike at 6:30 PM on January 15, 2010
(just for comparison, if you need it)
posted by Vaike at 6:30 PM on January 15, 2010
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posted by carsonb at 2:17 PM on January 15, 2010