How can I find reliable numbers on what students are paying for rent.

[Johb White]

I am looking into buying property near Florida State University. I have heard a lot of people say that students pay significantly more than single families do. When I am looking into what single family homes(non student) rent for I use sources like Rentometer. I do not know how to get accurate comps on student rentals because it doesn't seem like the rents shown in Rentometer reflect student rentals.

I am also concerned about having vacancy in the summer months when most students are out of school.  Is there a way to mitigate against this?  

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Account Closed]

As far as summer months, you could also allow summer subletting, with approval.

I only rented month-to-month, in a building next to a university in Silicon Valley.  What I learned about students and summer, is that graduate students are more likely to not want to move over the summer.  I targeted law students, but most grad students won't want to move over the summer. But, they may leave for the summer for internships, usually.  So, they'd want to sublet their apartments.

How I handled this, is I would give the original tenant written permission to have a long-term guest for the summer.  I told them the original tenant was still responsible for the lease, and the rent.  The written permission said that the "guest" will be evicted if they cause problems.  I would usually meet the "guest" and make sure they knew my phone number and to call me for any maintenance issues.  They'd usually want to be sure they are there with permission, too, and that the tenant has the right to rent to them.  The written permission covered that, so they could feel confident it wasn't a rip-off, etc.

Then, the two students would write up their own agreement for the subletter to pay the original tenant.  I didn't get involved in their agreement at all.

What I found, was there are a lot of students from other colleges, who come for summer internships.  There will also be grad students who live on campus, who need somewhere to stay for the summer and they don't want to go "home" to mom and dad's.

So, there is a short-term summer market.  But, the ideal way to rent to them, is to not lose rent in-between one moving out and another moving in.  So, subletting can actually work with students.

I also learned that the summer students will pay a higher price, because it's nearly impossible to find affordable (cheaper than a hotel) short-term housing.  I had tenants tell me they actually made a profit subletting for the summer LOL.  I had no problems with any of the summer "guests."