College Rental Properties

[Travis Zappia]

I am looking to get into college rental properties in my market as there is a huge college population (35k+) students a year needing a place to live in my area. I know the challenges that come with college rental properties from doing my research, but I was hoping to get some advice on when to buy. For the college area I am looking at classes end on April 24th and begin back up on August 21st. I am looking into properties needing $3-5k worth of work (mostly lipstick on the pig type of work) so lead time to get the property ready once purchased should be 2-3 weeks. Looking to get advice from others who have purchased college rentals before on when the best time to have the home purchased and ready to show is. Would appreciate any advise or experiences you could share!