College Town Real Estate

Here is an interesting article from Yahoo!Finance on the appeal of real estate in college towns.

It just so happens both of the houses I own are in very close proximity to local major universities (within 1 mile). I think the long term prospects for both of my properties is great although the markets seemed to have been more muted during the housing boom of the past few years.

The appeal to me of college communities is the huge pool of potential renters and resulting low vacancy rate. I have been very happy with the performance so far on my rental property.

A common concern I've heard about investing in college rental property is the potential amount of damage/destruction to the property from the tenants. I mitigate this risk in my tenant screening process - so far I have only rented the property to graduate students and young professionals.

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Comments (2)

2Million,

Do you manage the property yourself or do you have a property manager?
If you do have a ppty mgr, how much do you pay him? Also what %-age of your gross rental income goes to maintenance on average?

Thanks a lot for your answers!

Posted by Dividend Growth Investor | June 19, 2008 12:51 PM

DGI, Yes I manage the properties myself. However since I am currently away on assignment I did hire a property manager for 1 property and worked out an agreement with the other property. When we return I will manage both properties myself.

As for % of gross rental goes to maintenance - great question. Do you mean actual or planned/allocated? So far actual has been low (maybe $20/mo per property), but thats because I haven't had any big ticket items (roofs, HVAC, etc). Over the longer term I expect it to be higher.

Posted by 2million | June 19, 2008 10:33 PM