How's this ad look for the downstairs apartment?

[rmd]

Market rate for Somerville is $1300/mo, but that price is probably heavily skewed by property prices around Davis and Porter, so I think $1150 is probably about right for my neighborhood. How does this sound for an ad for a couple of mailing lists and dslj?

The 1 bedroom/1 bath downstairs apartment in my multi-family house is going up for rent as of the beginning of April, $1150/mo. It's a 1br in Somerville over near City Hall and Sarma. It's the first floor of a typical owner-occupied 3 story/2 family Victorian style Somerville house. Nice porch, fairly quiet one-way street, close to several bus routes. Oil heat and hot water. In-unit washer/dryer included. Gas stove. Not wheelchair accessible - there are a few stairs up to the front and back (well, side) porches. Well behaved pets are okay. On-street parking - parking is generally available on the block.

ETA: added "owner-occupied" and "2-family", removed reference to potential green line stop

Comments

[kimberlogic.livejournal.com]

This looks good!

[rmd.livejournal.com]

I know I've mentioned reasons why it might not be a good space for you folks, but let me know if you want to take a look anyways.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Personally, I would leave out the Green Line reference because it's not particularly relevant to a current renter in any positive way. I'd also specify "owner-occupied multi-family". And specify that the heat & hw are not included in the rent, since you mention them.

But it's fine. :)

[rhiannonstone.livejournal.com]

+1 to adding owner-occupied. It'll be a bonus for the folks who are comforted to know that you're available if there are issues, and it'll keep away the folks who don't like living in the same building as the owner (and you didn't want them, anyway!).

[rmd.livejournal.com]

point. updated the post.
thanks!

[rmd.livejournal.com]

point. updated the post.
thanks!

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

At a guess based on our rental market here, you are lowballing yourself a little.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

Possibly. It's a bit below the section 8 rating for all of Somerville, but it's also not in the expensive parts of town. It's a bit below typical rents I saw on zillow and some other apartment aggregation sites, but my experience is those tend to skew towards the upper end of the market.

[wotw]

If I were apartment-hunting and encountered this
ad, I'd wonder whether there's a separate entrance
for the apartment or whether I'd have to pass
through the owners' living space in order to come
or go. I'd appreciate having that information in
the ad.

Also, I am led to wonder whether "downstairs" is
a euphemism for "basement", and hence to wonder
about things like sunlight. You might want to
address that.

[clauclauclaudia]

Did you overlook "first floor" or is that ambiguous somehow?

[wotw]

I did indeed overlook "first floor". This leaves
the question of whether others are also likely to
overlook it or whether I was unusually careless.
My money is on the latter.

[wotw]

Although....I can still imagine a reader
wondering whether "first floor" is a euphemism
for "not *entirely* underground". An adjective
like "sunny" (if appropriate) would allay this
fear. Or again --- maybe nobody else will read
it this way.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

I actually wondered this myself.

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

I would say that "first floor" and "typical 3 story, 2 family Victorian in Somerville" do not lead those in the area to think that the apartment in question is a basement apartment.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I think that indicating it's a typical S'ville Victorian house is likely to provide a lot of information to folks. It's not quite as cookie-cutter a design in the area as "triple decker", but it's close.

It's quite common for single-family 3 floor houses to get broken up like this one, where the first floor is an apartment and the 2nd and 3rd floors are another apartment.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that local zoning prohibits me from renting it as a separate apartment if you have to go through my space to enter it.

Which, 30 years ago, when Somerville was much more of a pit and houses like mine were stuffed to the rafters with Tufts students, people might've tried to do, but there's been a lot of gentrification since then.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

(never mind, just realized the timing doesn't work at all)

[paradoox.livejournal.com]

I say "two-family owner occupied house"

Sorry, I HAVEN'T read all the comments.

[paradoox.livejournal.com]

Also, as they said "And specify that the heat & hw are not included in the rent, since you mention them."

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

there are a few stairs up to the front and back (well, side) porches

I'd say "steps" instead of "stairs", since I use "stairs" to mean "a series of steps". But usage may be different in Boston real estate.

I think I would tighten up a few words

[drwex]

Thus:

The 1 bedroom/1 bath first floor apartment in my multi-family house in Somerville over near City Hall and Sarma is up for rent April 1. $1150/mo. Typical owner-occupied 3 story/2 family Victorian-style house. Nice porch, quiet one-way street, close to several bus routes. Oil heat & hot water, gas stove. In-unit washer/dryer included. Not wheelchair-accessible due to porch stairs. Well-behaved pets are okay. On-street parking is generally available on the block.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

FYI, sovay, who commented on your DSLJ post, is the spouse of derspatchel, who used to be my housemate and has been heavily involved in T@F and PMRP and you probably know? Just in case staying within community is a factor. They have been in a very bad way trying to find new housing so it would be great to see them in a place with an awesome landlord, too.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

Good to know. So far, my best landlording experiences have been people who are in the greater extended community, but not so close that stuff has the potential to get weird if things go off the rails.