The Woodlands, TX · Member since 2018 · 2 posts · 1 vote
Hi Y'all! I am interested in purchasing a few turnkey rental properties in College Station. There seems to be some discrepancy about between realtors about whether or not the rental market is still good there. There are many new luxury high rises that have been built recently and it is having an effect on the market. Is there anyone that has an expertise in this market that can give me some input?
I'm no expert in that submarket but here is an article I just read about College Station for your info.
"According to a recent Census Bureau report on “predominately renter” cities, College Station is at number one nationally, with nearly 60 percent of its residents in rental housing."
I'm no expert in that submarket but here is an article I just read about College Station for your info.
"According to a recent Census Bureau report on “predominately renter” cities, College Station is at number one nationally, with nearly 60 percent of its residents in rental housing."
Hi Michael! I came across that information as well during my information gathering process. I was very excited about the prospects of the opportunity in College Station..until I spoke to a few realtors that were indicating that many investors were pulling out! I'm trying to find some "boots on the ground" to get more of a feel for things in that area. I'm still at the very beginning of this process, so there is lots to be learned.
I own one rental in College Station. It’s doubled in value in the 10 years since I bought it, but the rent has only gone up by $200 in that time and I always try to push it as high as possible.
That’s what you can expect in CS, there are more tenants than there are doors for rent when you include apartments, so the rent is always pretty low.
Sorry, it was early when I replied. I transposed what I meant to write. More doors than tenants, but still a huge tenant pool and lots of people renting with 3-4 roommates.
Hi Erin! My boyfriend and I are interested in getting started in real estate in the BCS market as well, and have been wondering exactly the same thing! We currently live in Bryan in a 3/2 single family home in a neighborhood that is slowing becoming more and more rentals; mostly they are in the $1100-$1400 range. Our initial plan is to purchase a second home, move there, maybe doing a live-in flip, while renting out the current place. Because I bought the current place in 2012 when prices were low, we should be able to cash flow nicely on that one, and get a feel for how difficult it is to rent out. However, looking at MLS postings for rental houses now, I can't figure out how anyone could make any money with the home price compared to published rent rates! We haven't been looking too hard for deals so far beyond the MLS, I'm guessing you would have to figure out how to buy a place below posted value or off MLS, but we haven't gotten that far.
Our realtor let me know that some of the new high-rises have been having trouble filling their units, but I have to imagine that there would still be decent a market for non-luxury, but nice updated housing in the area. It just seems like as @Charles Fletcher mentioned, that you can't count on rent increasing much from year to year. Just from a cursory look at rents posted in Zillow, most places I've looked at haven't appeared to have increased rents much for at least the last 5 years.
It is all realative, but the rental market here is weaker than it has been in many many years. There are a lot of new units that have come online. The unveristiy and college here are both still growing so the general belief is that the new units will be obsorbed, but it could be pretty soft for the next 3-5 years. Be cafeful in what you buy and the market you are trying to serve. Leave room in your numbers for rents to go down and know if you do not get it rented it in the summer you with have to cut your rents possibly in half for the next 12 months. The property values here hold pretty steady because it is a relaitively consistent market (albiet, if there is a student debt crisis we could be hurt horribly) but cash flowing student rentals can be tricky to come by because a lot of investors will “park” their money rental housing with little cash flow. Again there are many segments to even the student rental market, so know who you are trying to serve, what they can pay and where they want to live so you don’t get burned assuming $500/bedroom rents in a $1,200/house neighborhood.