First Investment- Student rental with tenants?

Question

Hi Everyone,

Just closed our first deal, a single family house located in close proximity to a University.  The house is currently occupied with a group of students who have a lease until the end of the spring semester next year.  From my understanding they have been living in the house for the last couple of years of uni and the previous landlord had no issues with them.

Going to head over to meet with them face to face in a couple days, just to chat and put a face to the name etc as well as discussing expectations on both sides.  Does anyone have any advice for key discussion points when taking possession of a building with existing tenants or with students?  Any rules that are critical to establish upfront? What tends to work best to start the relationship off on the right foot?

Any and all responses are much appreciated!

Michael Ryland · Answer

@Evan Rodvang

I rented to some students and they were great. I don’t know everything but here are some tips:

Having one of them be the point of contact for you or your property management company will save you some headaches and avoid miscommunication. A “head of the household” is better than having three or four different voices bringing complaints or requests. Otherwise you could have one occupant bringing up issues that have already been addressed with another occupant etc....

My students split the 1000 dollar rent 4 ways so they preferred to pay electronically via one of the many apps available.

I elected to pay someone to take care of the yard. I didn’t want to leave it up to the students. But you can feel them out and see if they’re going to do it before you pay for it.

My property manager met with the students and their parents before signing the lease. Remember the parents are likely the ones to be paying the rent. Communication is key. They need to know that your going to be a responsible landlord and you need to know that they’re going pay the rent and take care of your property.