Duplex in a college town?

[Daniel C.]

Very excited to make my first post. The community here is such a wealth of knowledge! I’m new to the investing side of real estate, but have been studying and analyzing my potential areas. Cheap houses in southern NH are hard to find, but one potential area I’m able to make numbers work is in a college town a bit north of me. 40% of the town rents, which is unusual as far as I can tell. The numbers also look promising in small multi family properties. With that, I guess my question is what considerations I should have potentially renting to college students? Is this not a big issue, or might I be getting into more situations I’ll need to navigate as a beginner? Is wear and tear really that much higher with students? Do lease lengths get difficult with the off semesters? Do students usually look to rent rooms or units as a group? Thanks for any advice! Dan Cayer

[Colleen F.]

More wear and tear with students. search student rentals in the forums,you will learn alot! If you have a duplex though the one point I would. make is you should consider is that undergrads and families can not mix well in a duplex. Grad students, serious students maybe but the time of comings and goings in the house can be a bad mix if you have a young family and students. Also there is a season when students are looking for rentals, if you miss it, it can result in longer vacancies.