All Forum Posts by: Jeff Watson

Anyone using “by-the-bed” feature on Appfolio?

Trying to find a better way to use it for our student housing. The Appfolio forums are no help. 

Impossible to transfer Tennant’s when they move beds. Any luck with a work around?

@Patricia Hinojos on your "#3" do you have them all sign the city ordinance for unrelated parties because you are violating it? Then if you get a complaint and the city cracks down you kick people out?

Our city cracks down on student housing by limiting the zoning. We can only rent to "4 unrelated parties" in an R3 zone. So even if we have a 5 bedroom house we can only put 4 students in it. It definitely makes it hard to make money on larger rental houses. Its normally the 5th and 6th student that make a "Student" rental more attractive then a "single family".

How much do you plan to make on laundry $10 a month??? Not worth the "cheap skate" image it would portray.

I would keep the units because commercial coin operated W/D are typically higher quality, and worth fixing. Just remove the coin part. They can trip the sensor manually and do their laundry. 

We did this at an apartment complex we bought on 7 W/D's. Works well as long as you can ensure visitors aren't using them.

I would also add:
- Know the schools schedule. When does school start, when do semesters end. Some areas you can get away with a 12 month lease. In my area no one sticks around for summer semester or wants to. We do a 9 month lease but increase our rents to cover those empty months. Kids will pay a little more to not feel stuck.
- Make the place "Cool" to live at. A flat screen TV on the wall will cost you $500 but it will drastically increase rent ability.
- Make your houses "female friendly" ya know what i mean.... ;) they are just less rough on stuff (other than drains)
- SFH is a great way to start. You can convert back to a family if the student market gets slow. Be sure you city doesn't have harsh restrictions on occupancy of "un-related parties)

@Robert Freeborn i am under the impression you are talking about BYUi?
A simple way to look at student housing is "By the Bed". You have 44  beds, that is your income source. Your cost per bed is 28k. What is the current semester rate at this property? Based on your original paragraph you need to raise rent and/or remodel so you can raise rents.
You prob have a deal here. (If it were closer to me i would have it closed yesterday!)
That being said you need to know that student rentals is a different animal. Be sure you have a solid PM in place, etc... DM me if you have more questions. 

Also, don't listen to @Jason Chen he has no idea. Student housing on top of a massively growing campus is a totally different animal.

@Ronda R. we do not use parent guarantors (although we may start) and haven't had many problems with not getting paid. We do require the semester or school year rent upfront. In a rare case we will do a payment plan but it is weighted to the front end. I dont see much point in credit checking 18 year old college students. 

Do any of you have "on-site" managers at your properties? How are those handled?

We signed onto AF about 2 years ago and we almost have a small grip on how to use it. My on site managers hate it because you need a minor in accounting to get around it. Don't even get me started on trying to use it for "by the bed" rentals or explaining to a tenant why the CC fees are insane. And yes, customer support is non existent. Other than all that, it is affordable and has a ton of new features being added all the time. 
We ended up hiring a part time accountant just to keep things straight. The key is to force your people to learn it. Its not easy or fun. I am constantly catching my managers making their own spreadsheets to track tenant info cause it is so painful to do in AF.

@John E Ceisel I have owned and operated student housing in southern utah for 20 years. As for renting to foreign students... My experience has not been good, well maybe 75% not good. A lot will depend on what caliber of university you service. Obviously higher end schools will have higher end students that pay up front. But regardless they will abuse your unit. Each country comes with its own unique abuses. Best advice would be VERY regular cleaning checks! PM me if you want more details.