Turning a beautiful 1900 house into a college rental???

Question

I was recently cruzing realtor.com for listings in my area and came across something interesting. I found a 3bed 1.5bath within walking distance to a college of about 12000 students. Leaving numbers out of it would you consider using a beautiful turn of the century house with original built ins as a college rental?

Joe Twing · Answer

This house is in whitewater wi. And school would be uw whitewater. Like i said i dont think ill b able to make a move on it. It was just something i saw and thought it coul be interesting because it has a full walk up attic that could easily be finished out. Its listed for arounf 150 without adding bedrooms i think it would be hard to even hit the 1% rule.

P.s. how do u do the @mention?

Mindy Jensen · Answer

@Joe Twing , what city, what college?

@Bill Syrios specializes in college rentals and he was featured on Episode 140 of The BiggerPockets Podcast.

I would make sure the home has updated electrical service. College kids are going to want internet, 3-prong outlets, and if you're renting to female students, they will most likely have hair dryers, curling irons, straightening irons, etc. Make sure the electrical system can handle the loads.

Joe Twing · Answer

thaks everyone for the replies. And yes id have to talk to the city. I currently dont hold any properties there but its a place i always keep an eye on. Idt this property will last long enough for me to act on it as im in the middle of a reo rehab for my own residence and this summer im hoping to basically brrr a rental that i already own that needs some updating.

David O. · Answer

Don't add bedrooms if the city won't let you fill them. Many places have a limit on the number of unrelated people that are allowed per unit. If you did add bedrooms you might need to also turn into a 2-3 unit property from a SFR, if the city will allow it. Just some other things to think about and complicate the matter.

Joe Twing · Answer

in wisconsin it seems that there are lots of 100 year old houses in college towns and lots of them i wouldnt think twice about doing it because they are basically run down shells. This one however is very nice. Ok moving on the only way this property makes sense money wise would b a value add. And in a college town that means bedrooms. I beleive there is plenty of room to make this a 6 if not 7 bed house. With that many rooms including construction cost id beat the 1% rule but i feel with that many kids things r sure to get wrecked.

Chris Williams · Answer

Growing up, we lived in a turn-of-the-century 3br/1ba for several years. I still remember its exact floorplan, yard, attic, and all the work we did. One of my silver dollars still rests in its redone foundation to this day.

Needless to say, I'd have jumped on the opportunity to live in one during college. I'm sure I'm not alone in this.

I would recommend expanding the half-bath into a full, if at all possible. College kids. Two is better than one!

Michael W. · Answer

absolutely... just keep an eye on it.

David O. · Answer

Yes. I've got a beautiful house in a college town that was built in 1920. Still mostly original. I believe that if you get the right students in there they will respect and appreciate it more than they would if it had been student-proofed.

Turning a beautiful 1900 house into a college rental???

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