San Francisco, CA · Member since 2016 · 7 posts · 0 votes
Hi BP, I am very new here and am in the process of completing my first buy and hold deal in San Francisco. Given the location, I am interested in renting room by room to SF State University students. I will be living in the house myself, to help with management of the property, and plan to have 5 bedrooms after rehab.
Given the surrounding areas, I find that typical rental for 1 room and shared kitchen/bathroom in the area next to SF state is 1100-1300 depending on condition.
I would like to explore possible ways to give myself a competitive edge over other rentals to attract better tenants and possibly net higher rent. There may be a spare small office room (no windows) in the finished floor plan, I had an idea to convert this extra room into a small library where it can be furnished with small cubicle desks, with wires built in, and a printer that can be shared by all tenants. Would this be attractive to prospective college students? What other things can I do to gain a competitive edge if I aim to rent to college students?
Investor · Norfolk, VA · Member since 2014 · 125 posts · 19 votes
9y
@Brite Zhou--- Congrats on almost closing your first deal! I haven't done room by room rentals but thinking as a former college student--- I'm not sure how college students would value a shared office space. It wouldn't of made a difference for me. I went to the library when I needed a quiet place or wanted to print out documents or just used my computer in my room. Will there be a shared living area? If so, I would deck it out with a big TV and comfortable seating. The extra room might be able to be rented out as extra storage for one of the students.... As far as competitive edge-- price appropriately, the closer you are to campus the better. Good Luck!