Finding Renters in a College Town during school year

[Alex Gordon]

Hey Guys, 

I live in a college town and am evaluating a deal on 4/2 and a studio in a primarily college area.  The 4/2 is currently vacant and would require some work before I could rent it.  The studio has a renter on a month to month so it could be vacant as well.   Most college rentals have leases ending in the summer.  How do you go about finding renters during the school year?  Would you structure a shorter lease to end during the summer, or deal with the problem every year?

[Roy N.]

Originally posted by @Alex Gordon:

Thanks for the reply.  How do you handle individual rooms?  Just a seperate lease for the room and they share the kitchen and bathroom? 

 Sorry Alex, I did not see your post until now (it's a busy week here ... as in most university towns).

That is precisely how we handle individual rooms.   Naturally, we charge a higher rent ($450 - $500/month) when renting by the room than if we let an entire house on a single lease ($360 - $425 per room per month): since we are carrying the utilities, have more administrative overhead and have to deal with housemate drama.