Charge a Premium rent to let Tenants paint Walls

[John Van Uytven]

I am working on closing on a rental property in my old College town.

My partners and I have a plan to buy a townhouse, and then work on buy all the townhouses in this complex over the next 15 years.

We have plans on how to improve the area and make it more appealing to the students.  It is in a good location across the road, is where the University begins. 

We were brain storming on how to obtain and retain tenants.  In our area, we deal with a lot of annual turnover because of the students.     
The first and leading idea is to market to Graduate Students charge them a little below market rent.  With the theory we can get them to sign 2 year leases, and they will take better care of our property than a group of undergraduates.  

The second idea I came up with is to market to Art students.

Charge them a premium rent.  Then allow them to paint designated walls in the living room.  

They would also have to sign a 2 year lease.

With the possibility of getting a talented artist, and then leave their art up for the next tenant. 

Thoughts?

[Bill S.]

Getting a two year lease should be fairly easy. Your average tenancy will then be under 2 years. Something always comes up and some leave early. You want to aim for 4 plus years. Get a group of undergrads and let them shuffle folks in and out. Make one a point of contact but all are responsible. If you are able to get a group from a student organization they hopefully the relationship can extend for years with no vacancy. My friend has a property that is rent to students from a local campus group (one that is made up of serious students). He hasn't had a vacancy in years. No need to replace the carpet or paint either. That's where the niche is.

Find that sweet spot and NEVER EVER EVER let a tenant paint. 9 times out of 10 they are terrible at it and what's more they don't care, it's not their house. I have found out of the general population only about 1 in 10 people have the personality to be a good painter. The rest of us (me included) are just hacks. I hate to paint and am terrible at it but I didn't know that in college. I'm sure I would have tried had someone given me the green light.