Student accommodation

Hello MarkyMark,

I am gonna put my 2 cents worth on living in this type of accomodation.
Myself and my partner have separately lived in large buildings with a whole heap of other people. They were all different ages and from all different backgrounds.
Here’s the bad news, noone gave a damn. If you get a bunch of people together living in an area that they don’t own they will party it up, break things, be disrespectful and sometimes not pay rent. I am being quite generalised towards young people here, I am speaking from being an ex youngy and still having young mates.
Hoping this helps!

Kylie

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it…

Marky,

There are different forms of student accommodation. The specialised types are when they have groups of apartments in a complex. There are managed by onsite managers. I stayed in one of these at the Sunshine Coast when I was at a Conference last year- it was new, with a pool, tennis court, games room, etc- frankly, it was lush. Banks don’t particularly like them- as in, you probably have to pay 30% deposit- that’s what my bank told me, anyhoo. API magazine recently did a big article on this form of student accommodation.

As for buying a house and getting students in, well, I lived in what could be termed “student houses” for most of my life. Basically, they were cheap to live in, and so that’s why students lived there- students not having much money etc. If you wish to charge each student say, $150 a week rent, so you are charging for the rooms, and not an overall amount for the house (and so you gwet a much greater return than you would on a whole house basis), then you might want to add in a few extras- lawnmowing etc… because it’s more like a boarding house arrangement than your average shared household.

Also, because you will be choosing the students, and they won’t know each other, then it’s more likely that they’ll be living there for study- and not lifestyle (unless they get to know each other [biggrin]) No students I know deliberately trash houses (and I’ve lived and worked with them since I was 19). But most young people are just learning how to live independently, and some may lack the skills of how to maintain a household. Others will live pristinely- it depends on the individuals.

I don’t see students as any different than anyone else. You can get a family who live like grots, or you can get students who live well.

You might want to furnish the house with desks and beds (double- noone wants to sleep on a single bed). You might also put in cable internet, because each student will be using their computers every day, and won’t be able to do that with one phone line.

kay henry

Dear MarkyMark,
I was a Uni student (several times!). I think if you invest in a niche property designed for o/s students that have all the facilities required, you may do quite well as the expense of studying here would probably negate the risk of time wasted in property damage, partying etc (this is still a generalization). When I rented my thoughts were on Uni life (partying, drinking, sex, typical portrayed late adolescent lifestyle/student behaviour, although this is not always the norm, I still have Uni friends and IP’s are about as important as paying an itemized phone bill!) This in my experience is in a suburban 3 bedder house. We always had a dog/s at parties, etc. I think you’ll find apartment student designed property will generally attract serious students who will one day get a job and finally realize they were better off partying and will hopefully end up on websites like this! They may make more astute PI’s as a result as well!
Just my thoughts (and some great memories).
Cheers,
Gatsby.

Hi

I have student accomodation in Adelaide, 8 bedroom house, if you want the return it does not come for nothing, sometimes I don't have any hassels for 3 mths, then all at once, it is basically having 8 seperate tennants.
Don't have a lot of time now, however if you want to list questions, either pm me or on here I would be glad to help.

Barry