Some will argue that in urban areas, short term rentals all tend to be apartments. 

For example, some listings tend to be "stale" (already sold), so it can chew up valuable time on those that should be de-listed from the site.I've used a commercial broker to assist with commercial acquisitions in several states.

I understand cost savings, and I pretty confidently can say that whole home renters in your area tend to be less problematic than in a lot of areas, and as compared to one or two bedroom apartments, BUT, spending the money once now as opposed to having an issue later could be worth it.

To let you know a little about myself, I am a 29 y/o father of 3 little nut jobs.

And don't forget that property taxes tend to rise.

I would tend to agree with most of the responses here in that it should be a financial decision.

Satellite campuses like Clear Lake and UH- Downtown tend to attract commuter students who either live at home or have other living arrangements.Now if you were talking about possible student housing around the main UH campus, I think there's some opportunity there.

As such, this type of house is much older and tends to have related issues with age unless it was updated at some point in time (e.g., cast iron plumbing, old electrical work, inside walls are not sheet rock, they are plaster, etc.).

That being said, I would recommend determining what you can do budget wise monthly and plan to be consistent with that budget for 5-7 months.Direct mail tends to work best when you send a campaign of 5-7 different pieces, 3-5 weeks apart from each other.

They are often beyond the partying phase of school, have shown to be more responsible and reliable than undergrads, and tend to renew if they stay in their program.