All Forum Posts by: Steve S.

 To provide a safe place to live...

My recommendation is to nothing

Steve S.  I actually drove by what I think might be the property in question when I went to work yesterday.  It doesn't look bad, but I can't say if it's a good deal or not because I don't know what they're asking.  I've been advising friends to look--for the longterm-- at communities just north of Denton. Sanger, Krum, Ponder, etc.  The growth is headed in that direction, and they are less expensive than Denton. Anyway, all the best!

Steve.  I actually work at TWU (and have for 23 years) and park every day on Texas St.!  I own 3 properties (free and clear) in Wichita Falls and two more in Sherman/Denison but none in Denton. Obviously, I've gotten to know Denton and the 2 universities here very, very well in a quarter of a century, and suffice it to say that, while I think a person can do well in this market, even with all my familiarity with it, I have steered clear.  Prices in Denton have simply gotten too high. I cannot make the numbers work here.  It's not as bad as other parts of the metroplex, but it just doesn't make sense to me.  I actually saw a crappy little dumpy house on Schmitz (one block north of Texas St.) go for $160K. 900sf! This house had minimal cosmetic work done.  There is no central AC, and it's still a real dive.  It took quite a while for it to rent and I don't know what it went for, but there's no way it got $1600/mo (1%) which is what one can get pretty steadily in second-tier cities in TX.  There are better margins elsewhere, IMO.  Also, next economic downturn and you can expect some very serious, very major changes in the TX higher education landscape. The move toward consolidating campuses, hybridizing 2- and 4-year schools, delivering educational content online are all going to eat away at residential enrollments.  Why do you think UNT and TWU have been so reluctant to build housing? It's expensive, and they know what direction higher ed is going in during the next 2-3 decades. By outsourcing, they let private providers run all the risk should their enrollment demographic shift toward those who don't have to be in residence here. Sorry to be a downer, but trust me when I say that, a few years back I WANTED to invest in Denton, but for now, I'll pass.

We own two properties within 5 miles of UNT/TWU campuses and another 2 just outside that perimeter. You don't state if you are looking for these to be strictly student rentals. 

Our rentals are targeted at families or younger professionals that want close to campus/square living but not on campus/square prices. If you choose to rent directly to students I'd be cautious, you have a large base of competition in the bigger properties, they have the mgmt and scale to deal with the younger tenant crowd. The sweet spot in Denton is honestly, IMO, about 5-10 miles outside the radius of campus. We have been investing in that area for the last 7 years and I have talked to a lot of UNT student that live even in the Corinth, Lake Dallas, Cross Roads, Little Elm area.

UNT housing authority (can't reca the dept name at the moment) is actually on record as renting out local private housing to supplement its dorms...the net effect of that could be considered close to rent control...a situation that we originally considered but backed off after looking at the economic growth around the campus and true demographic we wanted to target.