Boston, MA · Member since 2016 · 60 posts · 15 votes
Hi Everyone,
I'm a new investor and am planning on starting by buying a townhouse in Boston, MA in a heavy student area. So, my primary tenants would be college students. My question is.. If/when I buy a property, I will probably get it around October/November. By this time college students would have already started the semester so they would've already figured out their living situation for the year. And most student leases run from Sept 1-Aug 31. How can I rent out this property to avoid a long vacancy but still keep a consistent tenant until next August?
You could offer a 6-month lease or only month to month lease. A 6-month lease would at least cut your vacancy time down to 3 months. Are you planning to furnish it for the students? If so, do it now and rent it out via Airbnb.
Buy and Hold Investor · Knoxville, TN · Member since 2013 · 450 posts · 270 votes
10y
One more thing...there are actually students who need to move into a new place at the beginning of Spring semester, so it's not out of the question that you can get students in there in late December. You could offer them a 6- month lease to get back on the Sept 1-Aug 31 rotation.
San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
10y
I rented a building next to a large private university in California. I only used month to month agreements. I found that there was always a need for housing for students, no matter what time of the year it was. They come for a different semester, they decide they can't stand their roommates, etc.
And I also found, that there is a demand for short term housing over the summer, because of summer internships. And they will pay a premium for housing over the summer for their internships, that are cheaper than an extended stay hotel.
I ended up with a niche that I loved and that was law students. I went and spoke to the person at the law school about permission to advertise on a bulletin board there or whatever they would allow me to do. She offered to post my vacancies on their law school facebook page! Turned out, they didn't have enough housing on campus for law students, and it was good for them, too, to be able to help their law students find housing near to the campus.
Law students are fantastic. And if you can get them in their 1st year, they'll normally stay with you for several years, and sometimes even longer. Some of my law student tenants became lawyers and still stayed.
I also let them sublet over the summer, because they would have summer internships out of town and they really didn't want to deal with looking for housing again. Law students are exhausted. They don't have time to move. Or party.
I only had tiny studios for the most part. If I was to rent out a house with multiple bedrooms, I'd rent the rooms separately, and tell the students they're welcome to find replacement tenants. I also gave my tenants $100 rent credit if I rented to someone they referred to me. And I'd hire someone to go clean the place every week or ever other week, and include that in the rent.
I've heard med students are also great students for the same reasons.
Students are great - if you rent to the right niche. Which is never undergrads lol. I learned that one quickly the hard way. Yay for month to month agreements!
Boston, MA · Member since 2016 · 60 posts · 15 votes
10y
Thank you everyone for the quick responses! @Chris Eaker I don't plan on furnishing the place but I really like the month to month or 6 month idea at least until the new yearly cycle starts up.
@John P. Ahh I know, that's why I'm buying a property that I can drive to and check up on periodically. I'm hoping that visiting time to time would make them more apt to keeping things clean. @Account Closed That is some great feedback and advice. I'm really hoping to build a niche for students as well because Boston housing is very student driven. There are a few private universities nearby that have lots of grad students so I will definitely keep that in mind. I am planning on buying a 2 bedroom and am still debating on the idea of either renting the property as a whole or renting room by room. I don't know how inclined people are to move into a place with a random roommate? Any advice from anyone would be appreciated on that
San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
10y
I would still try to get them to find their own roommates. I'd just write up their agreements, as separate month to month agreements. Although, a two bedroom shouldn't be that big of a deal.
With roommates, you almost always end up with one wanting to move, though, and one wanting to stay. If you put everyone on the same lease, it can be a hassle. But, you can find agreements that deal with how to transfer security deposit money between tenants, etc. I highly recommend that you never get into discussing who gets what portion of the security deposit. You keep the original deposit until the unit gets completely vacated, and let them figure it out between themselves.