[paramour]

I am currently in Illinois for grad school but still own property in central AR (Maumelle to be exact). Husband is contemplating renting the house out rather than selling it. We've not seen too many home rentals in that particular area over the years, so we're sort of unsure as to what to expect for a reasonable monthly rent payment. We thought about checking the surrounding areas, but 'tis sort of hard to do from out-of-state and what I have found online thus far, simply isn't comparable as many of the listings honestly look like crap.

So, does anyone happen to know asking rent in the Little Rock/Maumelle area?? Or have recommendations for online sites I can check out for rental houses (not apartments)? If it makes a difference re: comparable estimates, the house is 3BR, 2Bath, LR, DR, Kitchen w/ attached breakfast area, utility/laundry room, 2 car garage, w/ decent size front lawn & LARGE backyard w/ small storage building.

I'd appreciate any information you ladies & gents might be able to pass along!

[Sam I Am]

How many square feet, and in what part of Maumelle? I'll look in the paper for you - seems all rentals are pretty high right now. Does the yard have a fence, and will you accept pets? That changes the rental fee, too. Carpet or hardwoods, fireplace, anything else to comp with?

[paramour]

It's 1900+sqft (don't remember the exact amount, I've slept since then!). Backyard is completely fenced in--tons of trees in back, and alongside driveway. There is a fireplace, and back deck, too, if it matters. All bedrooms, LR, DR, and master bath are carpeted. Everything else is tile, except for kitchen which is that "fake" wood schtuff. Skylights in both bathrooms. Master bath has separate shower and jacuzzi tub, also includes 2 walk-in closets. Kitchen would include dishwasher, stove, & trash compactor, *possibly* fridge but still to be determined. Tons of cabinet space in kitchen. Washer & dryer also not determined at this time. Outside pets possibly not a problem (there's even a fairly nice doghouse still there), but we prefer nothing inside.

It's located on a street off of Odom... of course, both of those are connected now so that might not help much. But, it's in an area where there has been a ton of development the past few years on both sides, but it's not one of the new houses. (Sorry, don't want to get TOO specific on location if I don't have to!)

We still have several months to figure this out, but we thought that we might want to start looking into it now rather than trying to determine what to do at the last possible moment. We've not rented anything in many, many moons, so unsure if it would even be worth considering.

Thanks for the help, sam!

[Sam I Am]

It looks like houses are going for anywhere from $950 to $1500/mo. in Maumelle by today's paper. I will send you a DM with specifics, hopefully it will help.

[paramour]

Thanks! 'Tis considerably better than what we were expecting (which was for someone to tell us about half of that if we were lucky!).

[Stormcrow73]

LMAO about half that! 3bdr apartments in Maumelle are renting for 900-1000 right now. We're in one on a temp basis. It would be silly in my mind to ask less that 1200.

[SouthernMomto3]

We rented in LR before and I would agree on 1150 to 1200.

[Capt. Dan]

Is the pay in and around LR high enough to support $1200 rents? Seems like alot of $$$ for a Southern city that one would not think of as "cosmapolitan" Just curious.

[Sam I Am]

You really will have difficulty renting something extra nice or even semi nice in a good neighborhood for under $900....the deals are few and far between. The Heights/Hillcrest area is even more ridiculous, which is why you have 2 starving lawyers living in a studio apartment or guest house. Maumelle is a very nice area and will support the rent - I think I sent the OP a list of 4 or 5 houses in that rental range that were just listed yesterday and were comparable to his...but there are a lot of houses listed for rent in the $1500-2500 range - so yeah, I guess there's some money there somewhere!

[paramour]

Stormcrow: LOL, I mentioned that we've not rented in a while. I suspected something was up though when I noticed 1BR apartments renting for $800-900. ;p

We're still trying to determine whether to rent or go ahead & buy here (northwest suburbs of Chicago) and have been in a bit of sticker shock on the rentals that go for $2000-3000/month. Kept wondering why people were basically buying what we consider to be upscale (if you're lucky) apartments & townhouses for what you could buy a semi-decent house for back in AR--Now we know!