Furnished Student Rentals

[Mariana Pasin]

Hello BP community, On the idea of furnished rentals for students, which of these markets would work best: Houston, Austin or somewhere else? (Thought of Texas because long term rentals there are good as backup plan). Also, for this kind of rental, condos or SFH? Looking to do individual leases per bedroom and include basic furniture and home itens. Any suggestion on regulations or things to look out for will be appreciated!

[Michael Hastings]

Hi @Mariana Pasin ,

This is an interesting topic to me, as I have started to research student rentals.  Although you are asking about specific locations in Texas, I think that this model would work in any town in the United States that has a private, public or trade school where housing is needed for students.  I am researching locations in the Ohio market (Dayton, Columbus, and Cleveland) as I am bullish on real estate in those areas.  I have researched properties near major universities, hospitals (needed for medical/nursing students on internships/residencies) and cannot find specific regulations needed to get into this.  I have even found that when contacting the housing offices for these schools that they welcome additional space and will refer students when you have vacancies.

Typically, I have seen SFH - 4 unit buildings that have a "share the room" situation for students (2 people to a room). The rents are amazing, as long as you are OK with year over year turnover and possible vacancies during summer months or holidays (could make up money with VRBO or AirBnB rentals during this time).

Most of the rentals I have seen have furnishings, appliances and charge a rental fee that spans the quarter or semester needed for the students (think like "Fall Semester, $1600 per bed, 2 beds per room, as an example...this number is low and is just to provide an example).

There are a lot of people here on BP who do this on a large scale, you should search the forums, find one or two and ask to pick their brain.  I just started my research by looking for properties around target schools until I found one of these for sale, contacted the agent and asked them a ton of questions.

Good luck and happy hunting!