Andrew, I am a senior now taking my classes online to focus on my businesses but I have some firsthand experience that I hope helps you out. Just before my freshman year of college I got a waiver to not live in the dorms because I was buying a house. I bought a brick 1,300 sq. ft 3 bed 2 bath house that was just under 2 years old for $129,900 that was about 8 miles from campus, on the edge of town. 20% down = $26,000. My total bills for the house averaged about $1,050/month. I had 2 other college students move into the other 2 rooms @ $500/month each. I was paying only $50/month to have this house! My yearly bills were $600 compared to $16,000+ if I had stayed in the dorms. One of my businesses saw exponential growth last year and I moved about 350 miles to give it my full attention, so I sold the house for $135,900. After closing costs I didn't make much money on that house, but I saved at least $48,000 by being out of the dorms.
Important things to consider:
1. Are you old enough to not live in dorms or can you get a waiver? Most colleges require on campus living for the first 2 years, until you are 21 or until a number of other qualifications are met. If you aren't required, go talk to the director of Residential Living because they will likely be impressed by your ability to purchase a home and give you a waiver. Also, most colleges make you purchase a meal plan if you live in the dorms, so you might have another $3,000+ a year in savings when you leave the dorms.
2. Choose your roommates wisely. It is a college town and partying is very common. The wrong kind of roommate can negate any savings/earnings due to repairs.
3. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't buy the 2 year old brick house with crown moulding and granite throughout, more expensive flooring and higher-end appliances. After all, we are college students, we could live a little more like college students for significantly less. Granted the market I bought in is much cheaper than yours, but I could've bought a house of the same size, same distance from campus but a different direction, but older and with less upgrades inside for about $60,000. If I had done this, I would've charged roommates a little less but would have had a positive cash flow instead of paying $50/month and still been living better than all those who pay thousands to stay in the dorms.
I think your plan is a great one assuming you can find the right deal on a property in the college town you plan to live in, but I definitely would go that route rather than buying in your hometown unless you can buy super cheap and have a significant positive cash flow that will do better per year than your savings from not living in the dorms.
Best of Luck!
