Renting to students can be tough. Follow these tips for a smooth experience!
- Hire a property manager that specializes in student rentals.
- Simplicity: For all roommates: One lease. One rent payment. One deposit refund.
- Carpet: A sponge for endless bad decisions at 4 AM? No thanks.
- Set clear expectations in writing. Express how expensive it is to leave a dumpster worth of belongings on move out day. Their cleaning bill will have a comma in it.
- Parents Part I: Strangle that urge to criticize your tenants to their parents. This will backfire.
- Parents Part II: If you ignore #5, budget a lawyer on retainer.
- Unit Conformity: Three large bedrooms and one small bedroom will keep potential tenants on the fence. Nobody wants to draw the short straw on bedroom size!
- Details Matter Bad: Lease starts August 1st Good: Keys are available August 1st at 11:15 AM
- Subletting Beware: If you allow it, this will become musical chairs.
- Rule of Thumb: My ideal size is ~400/SF per student.
- Neighbor Rankings: 1) Fences 2) Other Students….974) Retired Lawyers
- Location: Every block away from campus should feel like a mile. Every mile should feel like 1,000.
- Utilities: Including them is an avant-garde approach to bankruptcy. Water/Sewer is the one exception because the lien always lands on the landlord.
- Advertising: Facebook Groups = good. Zillow is great. The best? Referrals.
- Plumbing: “Don’t flush_____.” LOL. A new sewer line will get results. Lecturing or a lease addendum will not.
- Holidays: Christmas & Thanksgiving are great. Kids are at home, time to relax. But June 1- Aug 15th is like swimming in a landfill.
- Start Date: The landlord of the most desirable houses gets to choose when the lease starts. Own these.
- Washer/Dryer/Stove/Fridge/Dishwasher Yes/Yes/Yes/Yes/Yes
- Ice Maker/Garbage Disposal/Pools No/No/Have you lost your mind?
- Mullets: For neighborhood harmony, make this deal with the tenants. Keep the front yard clean, move the party to the back.
- Vocabulary: Remove the phrase “Surely they wouldn’t_____”
- Parking: Four spots for a 4 BR ain’t enough. 2-3 (in)significant others + the rando couch surfers. Pray for street parking