All Forum Posts by: Joseph Sherer

@Joe Bertolino

 Great suggestion.  The university here does have a site so I'm going to look into it today.  

Hey Jason,

  I started investing while in college.  The most difficult part is securing the financing.  I don't know where you are financially, but the first step for me was getting a job to show a bank income.  While working to establish credit and income, start analyzing properties in the area.  You can't do this too soon.  After income is established ($10/hr job), I got turned down by around 20 banks before one would give me the time of day.  Once you find financing and the property, get it purchased.  I was able to rent to roommates while in school which can you give you a free place to live and even some additional cash flow with the right property.  Let me know if you have any other questions.

Joseph

Nathan,

Are you looking to do SFH or multi unit? Are you looking to manage the property yourself or have a property manager in place?

The college market is a great one in my opinion.  One key component, as mentioned above, is screening tenants.  Finding a niche student market is a great idea.  I'll leave you with 3 suggestions and wait on your response to my questions.

1. In the beginning, account for more maintenance expense due to the learning curve with student screening.

2. Students these days prefer non-traditional communication ie text message, Facebook message. (Not so much email or phone calls.)

3. Set clear boundaries from the start regarding rules for the properties.  Assume they know nothing.  Some things to include: how to shut off the water to the house, where the breaker box is, etc.

Good luck.

Hey guys,

    We are a college rental start up and looking for better ways to reach our target market.Anyone have experience reaching their prospective tenant market through social media?  Or is anyone using a PR firm to get the job done?  If bringing a PR firm on board, any suggesting on criteria for choosing the best?

@Ursula B. @Brandon Sturgill

Hey guys, I've been considering the same thing and put together a small survey this morning.  

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BLZTYFD

We rent predominantly to college students so excuse the toned down professionalism.  Or maybe you think we shouldn't tone it down?  Let me know what you think. 

My advice would be to put the property in your name and get an umbrella insurance policy in addition to home owners' insurance. You will have a hard time finding a bank willing to lend money to an LLC that has no credit or assets. You could personally back the LLC but I'd like an attorney on here to weigh in on the value of that. Also, have you looked into LLC associated taxes in your state?

@AlexanderMerritt It sounds like your friend has it down.  

@BrandonSchlichter My experiences relying on students to do work for a discount have mostly ended in failure.  It's worth it to pay a pro.

I think most everyone else here has hit on the high points so I'll just throw in some pros/cons from my experiences in the SFH converted to student college housing expience:

pros- students produce more revenue (and profit) than families, even though the turnover is higher

cons- students are lazy in general.  just keep that in mind when making decisions regarding maintenenace, scheduling showings, etc.

thoughts- a good property manager who deals predominantly in students is crucial, if you're going to use a property manager.

Overall- I have really enjoyed it over the last 5 years

@Steven Johnson Are you looking to do apartment student housing or single family student housing?