This close to the end of the school year, most student friendly housing around the colleges are advertising their rentals for next semester. In one quick trip around Boulder, you’ll see at least a dozen signs on houses and apartment buildings. For someone without high-schoolers, this means absolutely nothing. But what if your teen is headed off to college next year? Are they staying close to home or will they head for parts unknown? More importantly, where will they stay? Learn more about Higher Education Real Estate.
While it is true that most freshman tend to stay in dorms their first year, they often evacuate as soon as possible. Dorms are cramped, dirty, patched up, and often just far enough away from campus to be a pain.
So where will your graduate stay once they jump the dormitory ship? Will they rent a one or two bedroom apartment by themselves or with a couple of friends; complete with security deposit that is guaranteed to be forfeited in the first month? Will they go in with a large group of other students on a house with higher rent and the same vanishing deposit? Either way, you, Mom and Dad, will end up paying at least part, if not all, of that cost at some point and cost of room and board for most colleges in Colorado ends up being upwards of $10k per year. Doesn’t that sound like fun?
What if there was another alternative? What if you didn’t have to shell out your hard earned cash to another property owner, but could keep it in your pocket as well as bringing in more funds and building more equity? Wouldn’t that be a lot better?
So what is this fantastic alternative?
Owning Your Own College Town Home
Every college town has its share of homes for sale. Students aren’t the only residents so there is always a house or seventeen on the market at any one time. Granted most of them are even further from campus, but that actually works in your favor. Greater distance from campus = less chance of property destroying parties.
Which brings up the biggest “If” of the whole idea. “If” your student, and whatever roommates they can entice to share the place, is responsible enough to take even decent care of their residence, you not only have a better chance of having the house maintained, but if something does happen, the security deposit money goes into your pocket.
As an added bonus, the rent you charge your student and their friends can go right into the monthly payment. You build equity without spending a dime! In fact, since most college rentals fee are above residential averages anyway, you may find that you make back the down payment in a matter of months instead of years.
To make this even more enticing, if you own the home where your child is staying, you get to set the rules of the house especially when it comes to parties, smoking, and other recreational activities. Remember that this is Colorado.
Then the question becomes, “What do I do with it after graduation?” You’ll have several options at that point. Most owners tend to continue to rent it out to other students; making money for years. Others keep it around as a retirement home. Either way, since you won’t have had to pay exorbitant amounts for room and board for your student and will be certain that they have had a safe place to spend their college years, it will definitely be worth it.