Thoughts on investing in apartments for students?

[Michele Masiello]

Hi,

Relatively long-time lurker, and first time poster.

By way of background, I'm 27 and live in NYC. My cousin is a real estate agent in LA and he is considering buying a triplex or quadplex to rent to ASU students and I'm thinking about investing alongside him. We're starting to take a look at different properties and we're talking to some local agents to get a feel for the market. We wouldn't be pulling the trigger on anything until 2018 most likely since we're saving up cash for a downpayment. 

I wanted to see what the folks on BP think about the Phoenix / Tempe area. What areas are students most interested in? What are students looking for as far as amenities go? Anything else worth knowing?

Thank you!