University towns and college tenants

[Jon Gorham]

Is it safe to invest in a college/university town and potentially rent to college students? I’m looking at a property that would cash flow around 9%, but the property manager told me that the vacancy rate is 10% for this town due to the large student population. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Jon

[Vaughn Smith]

@Jon Gorham Student housing can be a great investment just make sure that you use really durable materials (high traffic carpets, stain resistant paint etc) to help the house stand up to the potential beating it will take from the tenants and remove things that break easily or increase your liability (IE ceiling fans). Vacancy rates during the summer months can cause a bit of an issue with cashflow, but I know of one person in Virginia who uses the house as an Air BNB during the summer months which could help a bit.