Hi,
I am interested in hearing from someone who rents a property to students.
How do they manage it? Have they found agents shy away from managing these leases?
How do you manage the purchase process to coincide with the start of the year. as in if I were to buy a property for this purpose would it be a workable option to try to settle in mid December, spend a few weeks over Christmas fixing and arranging (taking into account tradies and rare during this time) and expect to pick up student interest during January and get leases signed for a February start to the school year. Or, do you just wear the lose and have the property "available' in December and hold a vacant property through December/January?
I would like to know from someone who has dealt with this.
Cheers
Kris
Depends.
Is the type of property you have suitable only for students? Or could there be demand from other types of demographics in the community? Preferably the property and the area are suitable for any kind of tenant, so that your vacancy rate will be lower in general.
I am looking more specifically at the timing and leasing to students exclusively, forgetting about demand from other demographics for a minute.
My question is do you need to have a property available in December to draw interest from students looking to enter a lease for the following calendar year, or is it more than likely that you can successfully attract leases through January for a February start to the school year?
Is there anyone out there that does have a property that they let exclusively to students? I'd love to talk with you.
Hi KrisM,
I am looking to do the same. I am looking in Frankston on the Mornington Peninsula. I feel, with the proposed infrastructure investment for Frankston, there are some good opportunities there. I am planning to cater to Monash University. The goal is to buy a property with 3-5 beds on a large block (800m+) that can be subdivided and developed later on down the road 10yrsish. The only way to make the investment attractive is to rent out the rooms to students as their combined rent would make the property CF+ or even neutral. Have you or anyone you have spoken to rented to students before? I would love to talk about the procedure.
If you are aiming at buying properties for students consider a house that you can rent by the room. However do not buy student accommodation. They are generally to small and will only be sold to investors. Therefore you will have no capital growth. Keep in mind as well that most wealthy Asian students tend to rent normal apartments not tiny ones aimed only at students.
Nigel Kibel | Property Know How
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Why not chat to the university admissions and housing departments to understand when course offers come out, and when students are looking for accommodation.
Jacqui Middleton | Middleton Buyers Advocates
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Email Me | Phone MeVIC Buyers' Agents for investors, home buyers & SMSFs.
Hi Kris
I'd call a few PM's in the area.
I was speaking with a client who was aiming to do the same thing recently (and I suspect it was in the same area) and they mentioned some issues with finding a PM who would be willing to manage the property – and those that would, generally expected a higher management fee (which makes sense). They were also able to shed some light on the whole renting to students scene.
Cheers
Jamie
Jamie Moore | Pass Go Home Loans Pty Ltd
http://www.passgo.com.au
Email Me | Phone MeMortgage Broker assisting clients Australia wide Email: [email protected]
Hi Kris,
One of our properties was very suitable for the student market – 3 bedroom place.
When we bought it (mid year) we put the tenants on a lease which was due to end at the peak rental time for students. In case this was Feb/Mar.
After that we insisted on 12 month leases so expiry fell at the new university year. Worst case scenario would have been to time the lease for mid-year intake students.
Generally our tenants were o/seas students who often undertook summer school studies so there was no problem with vacation vacancies.
When making your plans make sure you find out from the local institution when the academic year gets into full swing and when students start looking for accommodation. It is not necessarily a January thing.
Hope this helps
Hi Mark,
I don't know much about Melbourne in general so can't comment on Frankston's viability. What I can say is you seem to have the same idea as me in looking for some where that would suit student needs at the moment but also has the potential long term to be developed in some way to create a profit with leasing to students a means to manage the holding costs in the mean time.
I have been investigating more in regional centers to keep the purchase prices down.
This will be my first proper attempt at property investing so I can't give you any killer tips. One thing I do need to nut out is a strategy for dealing with the regular vacant period in December. That does put a dent in the cash flow for the year…
Cheers
Kris
Frankston has really come a long way. The infrastructure and development is outstanding. The area is a great place to invest and due to grow in the future. This is as well as the Mornington Peninsula which has been booming.
Bayside
Coastal markets 2019
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