All Forum Posts by: Evan O'Brien

That is a student rental? That looks very nice.

No problem! ps - when possible, grad students are the best tenants followed by seniors. They are both usually too busy w/school and work to cause drama or problems. 👍

Hi Richard,

I have had room by room student rentals in single family houses in the Hudson Valley area of New York since 2004. It has been good to me, but it definitely has challenges. 

1. What sort of impacts has COVID made to your business (good or bad)

I have had only one tenant move out before lease end back in late March with covid being the deciding factor. Others have asked questions about possibilities, but haven't left.

2. What pitfalls in general have you seen with investing into a college town (or college area of town)

You need to be within a 5 min drive to campus in my case, and some students don't even want to consider something that isn't walking distance. On the other hand, being VERY close to campus/the bars can also mean your house is likely to end up as a party house that is walkable to the bars. I have also learned this lesson over the years: When something breaks or needs service in a house full of guys, they often try to fix it with a butterknife first (and break it further). In a house full of girls, they promptly call you and you don't have to undo their "repairs", haha!

3. Are you trying to get out of this space, buying in, or holding

I am holding. I have filled several upcoming vacancies in the last 30 days, and just one empty room stands now, which should be filled shortly. Confidence in the Fall semester being normal seems to be high with the students. We are less than 2 hrs from NYC and I believe that even if online classes comprised more than 50% of the Fall semester, these students would prefer to be away from home (and their parents can probably afford it). Fingers crossed.

4. Do you prefer to operate in SFH and small multi-units or large multi-units?

Single family homes work very well for me. Staying on top of basic maintenance and repairs is paramount in my opinion, or you face a huge to-do list in May. Good luck!

From what I understand, you would simply visit the county offices in person, or call them, or go to their online site and there should be info about tax delinquent properties and the date of the upcoming tax sale.

Hi everyone! Any recommendations for a professional home inspector in/near Kennesaw, GA? Thanks!

Hi David,

Check to see what the local city rules are in regards to how many people with different last names can live under the same roof. It varies from place to place. You might have trouble getting students to share a room rental, they tend to want more privacy once they move off campus. Your first year will involve lots of little issues needing attention (even in a nice renovated house) - if your wife's brother isn't a reliable/handy/proactive type, you're going to want to secure a handyman. You may be required to put more down (20%) if you state it will be an investment that you're going to place students in. Good luck!

Welcome, Robert! 

Does anyone here (in NY or the colder Northeast states) have a Mitsubishi heat pump for home heating and air conditioning? How do you like it? Thanks.

@Grant Rothenburger, @Colleen F. - The one nice thing about my house is it isn't your typical student rental. It is not very close to the campus/bars/party & music scene with lots of friends stopping by daily. We're 1.5 miles from campus and most of my tenants over the years have been grad students or seniors who are very busy with work and school. They aren't super social and don't often have many pals swinging by. I know because I lived in one of the rooms for many years. 

My next step is to install one of those doorbell motion-sensor cameras that sends you snapshots of everyone approaching the door just in case that begins to become the situation. More important than that, it will give me an idea if the snow has been plowed in the driveway or if anything looks amiss in the front of the house without having to drive by. I'll be sure to post about it.

I got the Schlage touchpad lock and it has been working very well. Only took a little more time to install than a regular lock. The instructions were clear and it's easy to program codes into it. I recommend it if you are on the fence. Got it at Lowe's for $110.