Rental Properties near Duke University, Durham, NC

[Amarnath P.]

I am looking to buy my first investment property near Duke University for rental to college students. Is it a good idea to invest for rental near universities now because of slow down from COVID and when life is back normal, students will be back to univ. Or any other suggestions>

[Annchen Knodt]

Hi @Amarnath P., anything near Duke would certainly make a great investment, as there's always high demand for rentals.  Over the past few years there has been LOTS of development of apartments in the area, but from what I've seen and/heard there is enough continued growth in Durham that the market's not likely to become saturated anytime soon.  Duke has done a decent job of handling COVID, generally enabling any students who chose to be in Durham for the fall semester to do so, and the plans for the spring are similar.  The main thing to be aware of is that the market is incredibly hot right now, so for most strategies it is not easy to find anything that's a particularly good buy unless you have some kind of major edge (and probably willingness to take on a large rehab).  There's little chance for cash flow, but if that's not your primary interest then perhaps you could find something that works for you with the help of a great agent.