Are College towns a good starting place?

Question

Hi All, I am fairly new to the real estate community. As I continue to learn about the different strategies and ways of investing I constantly keep thinking about the college market and in specific small college towns and their value. From personal experience I have spent a lot of time in a college town and interacted personally with my past landlords and seen the value of renters in a town like that. I am curious from anyone who has had experience in that market to learn about the good and bad of it, and if one would recommend it as a good way to begin or not? Appreciate all insight!

Jacob St. Martin · Answer

Hello Ethan,

I am an investor/agent in Charlottesville VA and I can confirm that college towns can be amazing! There are of course upsides and downsides to every market but I tend to find that college towns usually have solid fundamentals, companies moving to the area, population growth, etc. If you are renting to students you need to just expect them to be rougher on the house but anything close to the university in Charlottesville is usually leased up about 10 months in advance. Also in college towns there is often a segmentation of areas that are "college" and areas that are more for locals. Understanding those unofficial boundaries will help you identify who your most likely tenant base will be and cater to them.

If you have any specific questions I would be glad to answer!