For me, I have had the exact opposite experience. It has been nearly<\/em> all great\u2014but of course with some drawbacks.<\/p>\n Collecting rent on time has been much easier than with a non-student rental. Much of the time, the parents will co-sign the lease and\/or just pay the rent themselves. If not, in my experience, these students do not have the time or patience to not pay the rent. If they are enrolled in school, the last thing they want is for me to be knocking on their door, threatening eviction or other recourses.<\/p>\n If they find a place they like that is well managed and close to campus, there may not be a need to ever find a different place during their school career. I have retained 60 to 70 percent of my students in one of my properties since I bought it in 2017. There has been another maybe 20 percent that left because they graduated, and the remaining number has left for a variety of reasons, including transferring to a different school and finding a different place to rent.<\/p>\n Related: <\/em><\/strong>Student Housing: What Investors Should Know About Pros, Cons & Profitability<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n On that same vein, the off-season can be tricky. If you are retaining your students like I am, winter and summer is great. There is virtually nobody at the house, so utilities are low. But tenants continue paying rent, so that when they come back, their housing is still secured.<\/p>\n Personally, I rent out everything by the room. This strategy has become synonymous with college rentals, although I also do it with non-college rentals. Either way, it is true that it is quite easy to utilize this method with college students.<\/p>\n With this system in place, you are able to drastically increase your cash flow. For example, one unit of mine is bringing in $1,575 where if I rented the whole unit to one person I would be looking at $1,000 to maybe $1.100. If you start to do this across multiple units, you will quickly see what it does to your overall cash flow.<\/p>\n Lastly, colleges rarely shut down permanently. When was the last time you heard of a college needing to shut its doors due to low enrollment and lack of funds to continue operating? Yes, it happens. No, it is not common.<\/p>\n Therefore, this fact may give you added peace of mind that your rents will continue to come in well into the future.<\/p>\n As I alluded to in my intro, destruction is a major concern. While I have not ever experienced this (knock on wood), I understand it is very possible. When I am taking applications and going back and forth in conversations with students, I am as clear as possible about what I expect from them (without being that lame, boring landlord that is going to be a total buzzkill). I tell them: This is a not a party house. I say, if you want to have people over, that is fine. But please be very cognizant of the drinking laws. I also say, I take great pride in the property I am providing, with the goal of giving everyone a safe and comfortable place to live.<\/p>\n This talk has seemingly limited basically all destruction and partying.<\/p>\n Do not forget: Your college rental is, more than likely, not the only one in town. Thus, if your students are well-behaved, that doesn\u2019t mean that your neighbors\u2019 students are. I have had incidents of damage where, when a party let out down the street and everyone was walking back to their respective houses, students have caused damage to cars sitting in my driveway.<\/p>\nPros of Investing in Student Housing<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nCons of Investing in Student Housing<\/h2>\n
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