College Town Rental Investing - During COVID?

[Daniel T Stockman]

First-time investor here... 

My wife and I are looking at investment properties in a couple of college towns, in Texas.  This will be our first investment property and we believe we have found a couple of homes/townhomes that have good returns and potential. The houses currently have tenants through this summer, and they are actively being worked to be renewed.

The question we have is more around the rentability in college towns leading into the next school year (Fall 2021/Spring 2022). Does anyone have any insights into how renters are engaging with rental properties in college towns? Also, what advice would you provide to someone heading down this path?

We are a bit concerned that there may be fewer renters than normal, due to COVID, and we cannot decide if we should just invest the money into the stock market instead of into a rental townhome or two. 

Thank you for your advice and guidance here.  It's greatly appreciated.

[Joshua Noth]

First off, welcome aboard  @Daniel T Stockman!

Great, thought-provoking question, btw. As you hinted at, there's a lot of uncertainty with the upcoming semesters for those college towns.  I think @Dawn Brenengen is right: many college students have made that commitment to living in a college town for a number of reasons (study better with fellow students, want away from parents, change of scenery, independence, etc.), and they want to follow through with that.  I have several friends in college who have chosen to stay in their rented homes in those college towns, regardless of class being virtual.

Obviously, I can't be certain, but I don't think there would be a *massive* drop in occupancy rates in college towns.  Worst case scenario, if they did drop for this upcoming year, they would likely increase again as students are allowed back on campus in the future.

I would be happy to connect further to offer further insights on this! And I wish you the best of luck