3 Tips for Investing in Student Housing

Student housing isn’t what it used to be. Today’s students often have higher living standards and bigger budgets. If you are a savvy real estate investor, you’ve likely considered looking for a student-focused property. Now more than ever, the right student property can help to elevate your portfolio and build your reputation as an investor and a landlord. With a healthy market for student housing in the Tucson area, we say, “Go for it!”

Here are a few tips to help you along:

Research the neighborhood, deeply.

Like any property investment, it’s important to understand the area you where you might invest. You need to know it’s current environment, as well as gain a good idea of its potential—through the lens of the student market.

• Look at rental rates for comparable properties in the area—especially those that are rented to students. Does they indicate a healthy margin for ROI?
• Pay attention to vacancy rates. If there are a lot of vacancies, find out why—this could make or break your decision.
• Determine proximity and access to campus and other student-focused venues. Remember that many students don’t have cars. Are there safe walking and biking trails? Is there good public transit?
• Find out about planned development or improvements. Where is this neighborhood in its life cycle? Is it on the up and up or on the downslide?

Consider Your Management Options

It goes without saying that even if students are “better” renters than they used to be they are still typically younger and learning a lot about independence and stewardship of their environs. Students will likely require a little more diligence on the part of the landlord. Decide:

• How much time you want to commit to managing a property.
• How many units you want to invest in.
• If a property management company can help you alleviate the demand of time and energy

Understand the Student Demographic

If you really want your student investment to realize its greatest potential, it’s important to not only understand students, in general, but who students in the Tucson area are. Keep the following in mind

• Today’s students tend to enjoy cleaner, newer accommodations.
• Students still really enjoy a social atmosphere, but they want a balance to that—where they can get privacy when they need it.
• It’s likely that many students in the Tucson area were drawn here, in part, because of the recreational opportunities, namely biking. Consider these lifestyle preferences when you consider a property and when you are making updates to it.

Hopefully, these tips will get you thinking from the student housing perspective and assist you as you look for an ideal investment property.