Student Rentals Upstate New york?

Question

Does anybody invest in the student rental market in upstate NY? I'm currently looking into the oneonta area and wanted some thoughts and tips from some experienced investors. How are you finding deals? Recommended Lenders? Investing strategies for a student rental market? Any feedback would be great!

Miranda Holland · Answer

I know you posted this a while ago. Not sure if you're still interested. But I'm in the Cortland area and I accidentally came across several landlords of student rentals who wanted to sell.  You'll be surprised how many landlords want to get out of the business, sell their properties and move to a warmer climate after last winter.

I went to the code enforcement office and asked for a list of residential properties that had code violations.  I sent letters to all 30 of them.  Most of the people who called were landlords.

Code violation list was not as easy to get as it should be. They act like they have no clue what you're asking and might even pretend it's harder to get than it is. But with persistence, you'll get it.

Also, people not on the list might want to sell. My own landlord found out I was at the code enforcement office and offered to sell some of his student rentals to me. I suggest you take down all the addresses of the rentals you would like to own, find out the mailing addresses through the tax assessors and mail letters to owners. I believe you'll definitely will get calls.

Miranda Holland · Answer

Code enforcement definitely asked me why I wanted the list and tried to discourage me from asking.  I told them why and eventually they came around and started being more supportive. That was probably after they called my landlord to find out more about me. It took about a week to get the list. As far as other problems, I'm not sure. I wasn't looking for multifamily properties at the time. Kind of stumbled across them by accident

Anthony Favoroso · Answer

Miranda,

Thanks for the tip! that's a great idea. I definitely want to give this a try. Being that these homes had code violations did you find that the homes had additional problems more then just code issues. i feel with code issues comes a general neglect for the property. But a great way to find motivated sellers! Did code enforcement ask why you wanted this list in the first place?

Anthony