Gathering Information to Evaluate Student Rentals

[Daniel M.]

Hey BPers,

After doing some thinking about what niche I wanted to invest in I realized that after bring in college for the better part of a decade I feel very comfortable renting to students, especially graduate students.

Although I have some questions about student rentals over here, the purpose of this post is more about the gathering of rental information.

I have put together a list of college towns and the next step for me to take is to collect information about the rental rates for properties in the different areas. I have been looking at Rentometer but I'm not sure that fully captures student rentals compared to regular rentals.

I was thinking about sending out the following email to property management companies in the towns that can be filled out quickly to collect the information I need to be able to better evaluate properties.

To all property managers reading this, would you spend the time filling out the answers I have asked for, or am I asking too much?

Thanks everyone for your input.

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to you because I am interested in investing in student properties in your area and have some questions.

If it wouldn't be too inconvenient, could you please answer the following questions for me? It will help me greatly in learning about opportunities in you area.

1- Do you see a need for more student rentals in your area or do you believe the market is saturated?

2- Are the student properties in your area typically rented per room or per property? Is there a difference in price?

3- Do you see a difference in rental prices between student housing and non-student properties?

4- Are the majority of the rentals in you area furnished or unfurnished? Approximately, what is the difference in rental prices per room for a furnished property?

5- Could you please fill out this table with approximate rental prices?

Thank you for taking the time to read through and answer my questions. I truly appreciate it!

Sincerely

…

Dan