Gainesville, Fla., student rentals

[Albert Jimenez]

Hello, all --

My wife and I are just getting started in REI. We currently own a 1br apartment in Gainesville that's rented to a dream of a tenant, and we're gearing up for the next step.

We're considering a 4br for possible use as a student rental. We know only one person in town who is an investor, and he's adamant that renting to students is a waste of time and money.

Of course, only one such piece of advice, while valuable, isn't enough. So we wanted to toss the question out here: do any of you have experience with bed leases in Gainesville? Pros? Cons? Would you do it again?

We are firmly on the fence at this point, so any and all perspectives are more than welcome.

[Shawn K Hicks]

If you’re fortunate enough to get 4 students to sign individual leases at an average of 425 a room or 500 a room including utilities,-you’d probably be happy. Sometimes what happens however is only 3 of the bedrooms get rented when going the individual lease route. Some owners instead of gambling on the premium  that’s possible with individual leases just lease out the whole 4 bedroom unit at a slight price break. 

I’ve worked with investors that don’t want to deal with students, but there are just as many owners that are ok with or even prefer renting to students.

If this was two years ago you could have gotten a 4/4 in Countryside at the University for 115/20k depending on condition. Now they’re going for 145/55k as a median price range. Numbers are ok but not as appealing as they previously were.