Investing in a College Town

[Roy Copeland]

Good evening. Currently my wife and I own 3 rental properties (5 units) in Athens GA (none currently leased to students). We are pursuing additional rental property purchase opportunities in Athens. I wanted to get some feedback on the positives and negatives folks have experienced buying rental properties and leasing them out in similar college towns.

If you are an owner/investor in a similar college town, do you actively seek out student renters? Did you specifically seek out a college town as a target for your investing? What do you see as the long term benefits of owning in such a town? What are the shortcomings? What are the best types of buy and hold scenarios in terms of buying on the lower end versus the higher end when you have a limited ceiling for rent? Is buy and hold the best strategy in a college town?

Any other thoughts or tips you may have would be appreciated.