Is it a good time to invest in Hamilton - Niagara area?

[Varun Talluri]

Hello BP Members, We are planning to invest in a townhouse in the Hamilton area and plan to convert it in to a student rental. Would like to know what are the pros and cons with economy slowing down right now and is a student rental a good idea to begin with? Thanks in advance

[Adam Krawec]

Hi Varun, 

This is a great question, there is never really a bad time to invest if it's for the long haul. With regard to students, I speak from experience in the Niagara Region market, we are still seeing a demand for housing from international students. My viewpoint of Students is mostly positive.

Pros

1.  They tend to pay rent through their loans or their parents (that should co-sign where possible). 
2.  They hardly miss payments, and when they do it's for a room, not an entire home or apartment unit.
3.  When they can't pay rent, they tend to vacate shortly after. 
4.  If you have bad tenants they are usually short term and move on within a term or two.
5.  You can cash flow higher than a family rental with more rooms.

Cons

1.  The downside to students is they are messy.
2.  They will not usually take care of the home.
3.  They can be quite hands-on, whether it be to remind them to take out the trash or sometimes you may need to step in to sort out an issue amongst tenants. 
   
4.  Turn-over will be high, and you will need to market your property during the start of each semester as vacancies happen.

This is just a few points, I just realized after typing these I can play the pros and cons game all night lol Students are a lot of work, but they are worth the return if you don't mind actually being a part of your "empire"