Designing to sell vs Designing to rent

We are in the process of designing a set of Duplex and our local real estate agent has said our target market for the area would be 50 to 65 year old downsizers, 3 beds (don't sacrifice space for 4 beds) with a home office and spacious living areas.

The thing is we aren't likely to sell once we build the duplex, we are more likely to hold onto and rent them out.

Should my design strategy change whether I sell or rent it out? Would building 4 smaller bedrooms give me better yield than a spacious 3 bedroom?

We are on the Gold Coast and my project manager has expected a rental return of $1350 per week per duplex once they are built.

 

If its attracting rent of $1350 per week that doesnt seem like a mum and dad and a few kids budget. Also may mean fitout needs to meet an expected market too.

 

That is very high rent so I assume these are high end duplexes. At that price point I would still go three bedrooms as I believe the proportions will be better
Is it 2 storey? If it is then most people in that down sizer market will want a bedroom downstairs

I will point out that the great thing about building a duplex is that if you have any decisions such as this one that have two sets of good points is that you could hedge your bets and build one with 3 bedrooms and one with 4 bedrooms. That way you can appeal to a broader demographic for each side. There is no need to have them be exactly the same.

 

Great points there!

I think given the floor area (around 230sqm) it'll be quite tight to squeeze 4 rooms, doable but totally different feel. And there's a brand new duplex build right behind us, (4 beds stock standard spec home with no pool) going or $1200 pw so by the time we will be finished the rent should be about right.

Would build costs be higher if the duplex designs are different?

I also thought the same about for that demographic ppl would want bedroom downstairs. However we are in flood zone so the house itself already needs to have about 6 steps up. So I wonder if that would already rule out people needing accessibility?

 

Yes I think so too, so I'm thinking I'll need to keep the plan very simple so I can allow for the quality finishes

 

That would be a significant investment for that rental and hopefully it is a suburb with such demand consistently. Be careful to become the best house in the street. Your next door neighbour is doing this and successfully might not translate, in the long term anyway. Also, if it is flooded, even mildly, you might need to put in a significant amount to repair if the quality is to be maintained. Climate change makes this more likely and often.

Just my 2 cents worth...

 

6 steps is a lot more doable than a whole flight of stairs.

Generally the price would be around the same if it's still around the same size in total

230sqm could fit a 4th bedroom but potentially it would be in lieu of a study. Recently I was involved in the design phase of a project for a inner city development and we created a room on the ground floor that was quite multi purpose. The room could function as a theatre, office or bedroom and it had an attached ensuite that had 2 way access so the ensuite could also be the powder room access for downstairs. They are 238sqm and effectively are a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom, 2 living room but still spacious and has a double garage.

 

To me the value in the asset is in the end sale value . I would build whatever my DD says will get me the best sale price, regardless if I'm selling or not. Once you don't build the highest demand product the market wants to buy, usually you can't undo it and it may be a costly mistake.