Average length of renter?

Question

I have only posted a few times as I am hoping to start purchasing rentals soon. For those of you that have had rentals for several years, maybe even a decade or more, I know there is not a exact number for this, but what is would you say is your average time a renter rents from you? I know you may have someone for years but also may turn a unit over 4 times in a year. I am debating between a college town rental and a non college town, with a college rental i know for the most part I will need find new renters on a yearly basis, but I am wondering if that if much different than a normal rental. Houses I am looking at would be mid to lower end. nothing high level for sure due to my budget. Duplexes with a rental in the 5-7 hundred dollar range.

thanks for any input on this.

Account Closed · Answer

@Mike Lalor If you can get 1st year law students to rent from you, my experience was that they would often stay for their entire 3 years, and sometimes longer than that, if they were going to take the CA Bar exam.

I rented mostly really small studios and my goal was to keep each tenant at least one year.  We used month to month agreements.  We also rented to non students, and had some tenants who had been there over 10 years, and very few stayed less than one year.

I understand that med grad students are also like law students.  Undergrads will usually only stay 1 year.  I also found MBA students to be less stable, often not even staying a full year.  We ended up targeting 1st year law students and the law school would advertise our vacancies on their facebook page.  Those, on average, stayed at least 2 years, and often 4 or more.

Michele Fischer · Answer

We are in the low income niche.  I haven't calculated the average for awhile, but would guess it is 1.5 years for us.  Most of our tenants stay 11 months or about 2 years, and we have some that stay shorter or longer than those two popular time frames.  The improving economy is helping on two fronts - tenants have more stable income and are able to stay longer if they want to, and with more demand and supply on housing they can't find other options easily.  Correct that it varies - some years we work like crazy with turnover and some years are pretty quiet.

Travis Sperr · Answer

This question has many variables. I have been a landlord for 6 years - mostly single family. All of my tenants with exception of newly acquired properties have been in the units for at least 2 years - one of them approaching 6 years. It is not typical for tenants to move every year as long as the unit is in good shape, maintenance requests are handled in a timely matter and you are priced right. College rentals will likely yield a higher monthly rent rate but my guess is you will be spending the money on getting it rent ready each year. Again a lot of this depends on your screening and management. Two very different strategies, if you pursue the college rentals - you will want to study the specifics of the business to be successful.

Good Luck