House hacking a student rental

[Betsy Kost]

Hello All, 

My husband and I have two small kids and are looking to purchase our first house hack within a couple blocks of a private post-secondary institution. Two questions:

1) When does the typical lease cycle start for student rentals? Classes start in August. And is it typically a 12-month lease? 

2) Is one single lease for a group of students (four in this case) the best, or a rent-by-the-room setup? 

Apologies if this is posted in the wrong place. First timer here! :)

[Melissa Hartvigsen]

Hi Besty,

1) Most students like their lease to start about a week before classes start so they can be settled. Leases for students are typically 9 months (assuming they go home for the summer). If your students plan to stay for the summer and take classes and or work part-time, they may want a 12 months lease (this is rare). I think you should offer both options, and see what your prospective tenants say.  If you do end up with 9-month leases, charge a higher rate to offset your summer vacancy, or post the rental as a short term.

Pacific University in Forest Grove has several programs that start at other times of year (the Physician Assistants and Optometrists don't have the same schedule as the rest of the student body, so you may have a lease start at another time of year. Also these grad students tend to stay for their entire program and you can expect an 18 - 24 month stay).

2) Compare the rent for the whole house as a rental, versus renting by room. Usually you will get more rent having individual rental contracts for each room. To estimate the costs for a room rental you may want to look up the going rate for a room in that town on craigslist.org (under housing, then rooms and shares).

Oregon landlord tenant laws are more complicated than they are in other states, so please use forms vetted by our local landlord associations so you are compliant with our laws. I buy mine from: https://www.multifamilynw.org/

If you do the room-by-room option, you may want to have an attorney help you with special lease provisions. For example, how to address damages in a common area like a kitchen.  Be sure to have a landlord tenant attorney, and not a general attorney help you here!
https://www.justia.com/lawyers/landlord-tenant/oregon

Best wishes and good luck!
-Melissa