All Forum Posts by: Megan Thomson

I just got my 5-bedroom college rental rented out for the next school year. Here, our college rentals are on a May-May lease. Is that how it works in your area? I did experience a recent rush (just this week) of last-minute college students who were looking for a house for next year. I got the most calls/emails from listing the house on Zillow and also with the For Rent sign in front of the house. 6 bedrooms is a lot for a college rental and it may be one of the reasons you are having trouble renting it out. Can you market it as a 4 or 5 bedroom plus an office? My 5 bedroom is being rented out to four guys. 

Do you allow pets in this rental? If so, I would probably try and repair the grass in that area since pet owners like a spot of grass for their pets. How much do you estimate the brick to be? 

Hello! My husband and I recently purchased our first rental and I just got it rented out to a group of college students. We specifically purchased the property in hopes of renting to college students and I’m excited that I found tenants. I have a few questions specific to college properties and I was hoping someone else in this field could answer some questions for me. Thank you!

- Do the college students needs renters insurance?

- For those of you who do 12-month college rentals, how do you structure the lease? Do you leave a week gap in between renters for repairs, etc?

- For out-of-state parents who are co-signing, how does this work? Do you send them the lease agreement before the students sign it or after? 

That’s all my questions for now. I would love to connect with another landlord who is doing college rentals.

Thanks!

One of our quality standards for renters is that they are non-smoking. It says so on our application and applicants need to indicate whether they are non-smoking or not. We just had some prospective tenants turn in applications and they said “non-smokers” on the application, but I noticed they smelled strongly of smoke and even their applications (the paper!) smells like smoke. Can I deny them for this reason even though they said non-smoking? 

I just listed our first house for rent and I had a potential tenant contact me to ask if we take section 8 housing. My first thought is no, however I don't want to discriminate against anyone. We live in Michigan - I'm not sure if this matters or not. Has anyone come across this and how should I respond to this potential tenant? I tried to look at the HUD website for Michigan but couldn't find any information.