Long Term or Short Term Renter

[Zeeshan Mallick]

I live in Tempe, Arizona, which is the city of one of the largest universities in the nation (ASU - Arizona State University), however, very near to me (15 minute drive) is Scottsdale, a very affluent, popular, and relatively affordable suburbia.

My question is:

For my first rental property, a single unit house, in general, would it be better to get a Tempe house for the college student rental demographic, or a Scottsdale house for the small family of 3-4? Both houses would cost rougly the same in this situation.

Because the way I see it is a Scottsdale family will rent long term hopefully (5-10 years) while a Tempe College student will only rent for 1 year maximum as they will just live somewhere else the next year due to semester changes, graduation, roommate situation etc.

I just don't know which situation is more advantageous and easy to take advantage as an investor, because I would imagine that it would be quite annoying to find new tenants (especially college students) every year, however it also seems that it would be hard to find a long term renter in Scottsdale. 

Any ideas or advice is greatly appreciated.

[Pamela Sandberg]

Pros and cons to each. If you protect yourself with security deposits and co-signers, you can mitigate the risks of renting to students. And even if you get a long-term tenant in Scottsdale you will still probably want a lease term of no longer than one year (in case anything goes wrong with the tenant). Vacancy will probably be low in both areas. 

Happy to discuss this in detail if you have specific properties/areas in mind!