STR and/or Furnished Month to Month Vacation/College Town

[Zeb B.]

I just finished adding a 2 bedroom basement (Garden Level) apartment to my house. We are 2 blocks from a large college campus in a town that is also a popular vacation destination. We posted the unit on Airbnb and Vrbo for July and August and have booking have been pretty good so far.

I am debating whether to continue doing the short term rental strategy in the colder months, or to switch to renting the apartment by the month from September - May. The motivation would be to have less management to do during the parts of the year when STR bookings will probably slow down a bit.

Since we are close to campus I'm getting inquiries from college students. Renting to college students from September to May and then doing short term rentals in the summer would probably give my the best income from the apartment, but I have no experience in the student rental market. All of my other properties are single family houses rented long term to professionals.

Since this apartment is brand new, and I live in the upper two floors of the house, I'm worried about potential damage and noise.  

Anyone have tips or ideas? I should I hold out for non-student monthly tenants? Stick with the short term rental market through the winter? Ideas on how to find an above average student renter?

[Don Konipol]

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Hey @Zeb B., college kids can (WILL) be really hard on a place. So remember the amount of work required to bring the home back up to STR standards in a very short time.

The key is selectivity.  I had a doctoral student rent my condo for six years.  She actually had it painted at her own expense when she left!  One of the best tenants I ever rented to.  One possible qualifier is renting to grad students rather than undergrads.  Most grad students are not there to socialize, party, experience college, or “find themselves”.  And typically once in grad school mom and dad no longer pay the tuition.  So between grad classes, working a job, and career preparation, there’s little time left to destroy someone else’s property.