When to buy Student housing rental property

[Johanna R.]

Hi,

Im interested in buying Student housing rental property.

I’ve read that," I should buy my property so it coincides with the start of the fall semester as there will be more potential tenants looking at that time."  Since I’ll be missing this coming fall does that mean I should not starting looking till close to the next fall semester?

But upon doing some research of when schools recommend, kids should start looking for housing the general rule of thumb seemed to be “If your school is in area where off-campus housing is limited, you may want to start a little earlier, maybe in November or December. If you live in an area where housing is pretty plentiful, you may be able to wait until January or even February. “

From this I would think that I should start looking now in hopes of maybe finding something and fixing it up by November or December when kids start looking with the possibility it will be empty till the coming fall.

Id love to get any feedback.

Much thanks in advance,

johanna

[Beni Restea]

In general, when it comes to student accommodation, families decide what is best for their children. There are three options for student accommodation: dorm, rent or buy. Some choose to remain on campus, in a student dorm. Others, with more financially supportive parents, will decide to rent and share the apartment with a colleague or a roommate. Investing in real estate doesn’t cross student parent’s mind since college is already expensive. But in the long run, if the property is shared with a colleague, is a good investment. Even after the child graduate, that property can be leased out to the next generation... and so on.

When is the best time to invest in real estate for student accommodation? When you feel ready! But to maximize your revenue, you should market your property early enough, so that the students and their parents get a better chance to find you and rent from you. I think buying in November before the holidays is the best timeframe. The future students who know that will attend that particular college will look for accommodation in advance, especially if they move across the country. Local students may start their search a little later, maybe one month before the start of the fall semester.