The costs of living as a college student have been a strain for parents and students for many years. Within the past 20 years we have seen some parents invest in properties near campuses to enable their child to live there while renting rooms to other students. Doing so is designed to enable the son or daughter to live rent-free or close to it while starting (or adding to) a real estate portfolio.
However, the "older" houses which lack the amenities and conveniences which modern day student housing offers are catching up with parents and potential buyers. Per the below linked story, the trend is becoming to buy a house for the student(s) instead. Rents for "modern" student housing have reached the point of being the equivalent of a mortgage payment instead of being "cheap old" properties.
We are seeing quite the variation in student housing prices and conditions, especially when compared with the general residential market, in college towns along with for schools within big city neighborhoods. What it all means is that there is the need for researching college and university communities one by one to find the best trends from a real estate perspective. It's more than parents of upcoming students that should be doing the researching.
If you are a developer of student housing, it matters more than ever which market(s) to explore. If you are an investor, researching markets can determine whether to look at student housing, single-family, or apartments within range of campuses. If you are a broker, you should research to be aware of the differences within your coverage areas and which properties are most likely to have the most appeal.
If you own, or represent, properties in college areas, you should be exploring the possibilities as well. You might be overlooking your best target audience.
Even if it is about one student attending college, a lot of people benefit from doing their homework! I can show you how.
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