Hello,

Right now I am a Real Estate Consultant for a small company in Dallas, Texas. I am very interested in this field, and would hopefully like to open some sort of business in this area. I was thinking of buying semi-rundown houses in college towns, remodeling them, and them renting them out to students. Does anyone believe that this is a good idea? If so, does anybody have any information on where to get literature to start this kind of business.

Thanks for your help.

There's plenty you'll find here...

http://www.best-start-a-business-gui...marketresearch


Have a good day

Hi!!!

I am also trying to get into the same type of business. Maybe we can help eachother!!

John

hope to talk to you soon

College students are
a) poor
b) rowdy

My fears would be that they might tear the place up. So you would want a large deposit up front which might be a problem since they are poor. The fewer people you allow to live there the better chance it will remain intact. However, the student might get roommates to help pay the rent witout you knowing/allowing it. I once lived in a house with 3 other guys, but only 2 of our names were on the lease. Luckily my name wasn't.

Look for an Investor Club in your area. This is a good place to get ideas and help. They normally meet once a month and have a special guest speaker and then break off into smaller specialized discussion groups afterwards. This is a great place to learn and yes renting to college students can be profitable. I know investors that do this and make a good living. There are classes year round so keeping the units rented should not be a problem.

I beleive that this type of thing is fairly common. I know of a couple of people that live in housing like this. I beleive they call it community housing. It basically works that they have a room each and then the rest is just communal. I think the one that a friend lives in has about 12 people living there and it seems to work well you just have to well screen the tenents and maybe even have a onsite landlord sort of deal to ensure the peace is kept and nothing to rowdy starts happening without police or such attending.

You could even try looking for old run down motels or other buildings that could easily be converted in to small relatievly cheap accomodation for students.

Not all college/university students are poor, contrary to popular belief. I think TX has some pretty nice universities, and the students might not be interested in "lower standard" living. I had this idea before, then looked into the demographics of certain universities compared to the surrounding neighborhood. I personally didn't find any outstanding opportunities. Just a thought! -w

Guys you have a great idea, except for one thing. College towns are usually a bit pricier then others. There is usually a premium worked in.

If you're interested in getting involved in real estate investing, stop by our site and forums. YOu'll learn a lot about investing, and get a chance to interact with fellow investors who would be glad to help you out.

BiggerPockets.com Real Estate Investing Community - http://www.biggerpockets.com
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I agree that college kids are rowdy, poor I'm not so sure about, mommy and daddy have deep pockets. A friend of mine that ran a hotel in Myrtle Beach, SC has always told me that you want to rent to guys....they are always at the girl's place....LOL

Seriously now, great idea but wrong market. Think about this, locate close to an airport. Market toward airline employees that run the same route all the time. You might be surprised how many will rent a portion of the house. These people are coming in and doing what.....sleeping!! They dont' tear things up and are generally very quiet.