I am unsure my co-sign will be any assistance on an OO purchase.  

We are in the midst of a bad experience with Evernest in CO. 

My wife and I own 3 properties in Colorado and are considering pulling some equity to purchase an STR in the Tampa Bay Area.

@James DickensI’m in Lake Charles and have connected with a couple guys from LAFAYETTE; one is a good friend and co-worker and the other is a co-worker.

My co-worker has built ADUs for $150k and sold them for $350k on the MLS. 

OR Talk with a property management team that specializes in Padsplit / Co-living and they can give you some more realistic numbers to go with when it comes to occurancy % and cost!

But most likely you are going to have to find something else.What @John Underwood was getting at is that co-hosts or other managing people are very close to the property to handle all the issues.Also...

For both the applicant(s) and a co-signer, you want to understand their habits...financial, employment, legal, character, etc., as Bad habits in one area typically carry over to other areas, and will land you a poor Tenant (or co-signer) choice.

If the students do not have the income or credit to warrant the rent amount, I would require that they get a cosigner (like a parent or another relative that can vouch for them).

Your property listing can also be a great way to lay out qualifying criteria (i.e credit score minimum, and require a co-signer if lower).After conducting due diligence into a particular tenants situation, and you decided to proceed with an application approval, you could require a higher security deposit.