Buying Multi-Family in college towns

[Thomas Reed]

I am first time investor looking to buy multi family homes and I have found a few that have caught my eye near major universities. I am just looking for some insight on people with similar situations are these properties normally a good buy? Do college students make good tenants? Any insight is greatly appreciated

[Cameron Tope]

Thomas, there's a lot of good advice from @Jonathan Greene and @Christian Manhard. 

We handle our student rentals in Athens, OH completely different than our Greater Houston rentals. Students tend to have very little in the form of credit or backgrounds so credit & background checks were essentially useless. So we have parents co-sign. 

The returns are lucrative but can be challenging when enrollment drops. You are totally at the mercy of the university. I had a friend who invested in Columbus, OH and Ohio State decided to require their students to live on campus for a year (or two? I can't remember) but it totally disrupted the off-campus (student housing) market. 

Buy in great locations. Price competitively. Build a great team. Treat people with respect. 

If you do those things you'll be just fine. Best of luck!