@Cameron Miles , I'd be careful about commute time if you are going to be going to school and working. In normal traffic, it's about an hour and 15 minutes from Galveston to U of H, more during rush hour.
Another thing to think about is that the semester starts in January. Everyone should have their housing in place by mid-January. So, it may be difficult to get student renters in there that first semester.
This is just me, but I think rather than getting friends or classmates in there and trying to keep them from finding out you own the property, it would be better to get complete strangers and be upfront with them about it. That way it will be easier to be hard-nosed and evict someone if you have to.
There are tons of international students at U of H, and there are also tons of international (mostly Chinese) researchers who work at the Texas Medical Center. I figure if a student has enough money to come here from another country to study, he can probably afford his rent. The researchers are making a decent salary, so they also should be able to pay. The researchers are sometimes only here for a year or so. That means there is turnover, and new people arriving all the time.
You might want to contact the housing office at UofH. Explain what you're trying to do and ask them if they do any rental referrals from their office. Maybe they could even give you some idea of what rent would be typical.
Let us know if you have more local area questions!
