If you’re looking for the best guaranteed profits investing in real estate, then you should learn how to rent out to college students.
When it comes to real estate investing, rental properties are perhaps the best option with the least amount of risk and a high potential for profits. However, with all the different types of rental properties and the different types of tenants that you can target, you might want to pick a niche and stick to it to increase your chances of success.
While vacation rentals are among the most desirable and tempting income properties to invest in, the seasonality of vacation rentals makes them perform extremely well during certain times of the year, but their profits fall off drastically during the down seasons which make up the majority of the year.
Want to buy a vacation rental? Read: Best Places to Buy a Vacation Rental Property
So, and as I will explain in this article, several professionals and real estate experts and investors agree that renting out to college students and in college towns might be the best and most guaranteed way for making profits from income properties year round.
And when it comes to college students, there are certain advantages and disadvantages that you need to keep in mind in order to maximize your profits and minimize your expenses.
So, without further ado, let’s talk about how to rent out to college students as a real estate investor.
How to Rent Out to College Students – Advantages & Disadvantages
Before asking yourself: how to rent out to college students, you should start by asking yourself why renting out to college students might be a good idea.
College towns, in general, are among the best locations for investing in rental properties for a number of reasons. This is because college towns combine the benefits of investing in vacation rentals with high seasons, but they will also rent out throughout the year.
Also Learn: 5-Step Guide to Investing in Vacation Rentals in 2018
Generally speaking, college towns are usually full of life, activities, and frequent events. These events, such as graduations, sports events, and art events, will typically attract a high number of visitors to these towns, which means more tenants and prospects that you can rent out to. This makes up the high seasons when it comes to college towns, and these events will happen more frequently and are not limited to a certain season such as the summer or the winter.
During the low seasons, when no events are taking place, you will still have a high number of prospects and tenants to rent out to as new students are always coming and leaving between the semesters, which means that each semester you have a new large pool of tenants that you can attract to your rental property.
With all of these advantages in mind, you should also take into consideration a big disadvantage that comes with renting out to college students.
The biggest issue with renting out to college students is that this type of tenants will result in higher maintenance costs for your property. The nature of college students – being young, careless, and wild – will oftentimes result in your property suffering damages and requiring frequent repairs and maintenance.
For example, when you’re renting out to college students, you should expect them to throw parties at your investment property and behave in ways that might lead to broken windows, devices, ruined paint jobs…etc.
This is something to keep in mind when considering how to rent out to college students, and you should always plan your finances with an increase in maintenance costs in mind.
To avoid the high maintenance costs, avoid installing any expensive or fragile equipment, as these are not the things that college students will usually care for, and they will cost you the most if they get damaged.
How to Rent Out to College Students – Type of Property
College students won’t be looking for fancy houses or luxury homes. They usually prefer affordability over the quality of the property they want to rent, and they’re usually satisfied with a smaller sized unit as long as they get to enjoy their college life in it.
For this reason, the best type of property to invest in when researching how to rent out to college kids will be multi-family homes.
Multi-family homes provide college students with a space that they could rent and enjoy their privacy and freedom, while also offering them an atmosphere that is somewhat similar to dorm rooms in that the students who are living in the different units can enjoy a feeling of a small community and socialize with one another.
While this might not seem like a big deal to real estate investors, the wise real estate investor will get in the mind of a college student and think about the things that they like to have and the kind of life that they’d like to have in their college years.
Provide them with something cozy, comfy, and simple. Keep in mind that they’re not looking for a place to live for the rest of their lives, they’re only looking for a place to enjoy their college years with their friends.
Also Read: How to Become a Real Estate Investor While in College
How to Rent Out to College Students – Location
The best part about college towns is that they’re usually not that large, and their walk scores are usually very high. This means that it should be easy for you to pick a location that is close to everything a college student might need.
However, if you want to pick a certain niche within a college town based on the type of students, you might want to consider facilities such as museums, stadiums, and other types of facilities that attract a certain type of students.
To start looking for and analyzing the best investment properties in your city and neighborhood of choice, click here.
Bottom Line
The bottom line is that you should learn how to rent out to college students and be smart about it because this experience will definitely be worth your while. It comes as no surprise that college towns are fun places to live in, and renting out to students and helping them enjoy their college years can also be a fun and satisfying experience when done correctly.
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If you’re looking to find the best rental properties, both traditional and Airbnb, to purchase and rent out in college towns, all you have to do is go to Mashvisor, enter the name of the college town that you’re interested in, and you’ll find a list of the best performing rental properties for sale in that town that you can purchase and start profiting from this unique investment strategy and experience.