Why invest in college towns?
College towns are ideal places to invest in student housing rental properties. Why? Because students moving to college need to find affordable housing near campus. And this is often challenging, especially if staying in dorms isn’t an option. In fact, a recent survey revealed that 20% of students have a hard time finding the housing they need.
That means student housing investments are one of the best real estate investment opportunities. Students are also generally less picky about their home environment than high-income professionals might be, so expensive remodels don’t have to be a priority. Ultimately, this saves you money.
Overall, colleges will always attract students. And especially during challenging economic times, there tends to be an increase in people going back to school to reskill or upskill so they can stay professionally competitive.
That means your student housing rental can still bring in revenue even when the economy isn’t doing particularly well. Want an example? Between 2007 and 2010 – and the corresponding recession – college enrollment increased by nearly 16 percent.
And even when college students were sent home during Covid, people who owned student housing rental properties were able to pivot and cater to other demographics, like hospital professionals who needed affordable housing.
How to choose the right college town to invest in
How do you ultimately pick the right college town?
A good college town to invest in are areas where there are:
- Top hospitals nearby
- Lots of new job opportunities
- Top colleges
Hospitals, job growth, and top colleges attract high-income earners and, therefore, a better quality of life, which translates into higher rents. Plus, the risk you take decreases because those job opportunities and colleges will continue to attract people regardless of factors like a poor economy or national housing trends.
Also, take a look at where rents increase. For instance, Statista reports that some of the leading universities with the highest rent growth are University of California – Riverside, CA (15%), Clemson University, SC (6.9%), and University of South Florida, FL (6.9%).
With that, what are the best college towns to invest in?
Top 10 best college towns to buy rental property
Here are the top towns for investing in student housing rental properties in 2024. I’ve selected them based on different college town rankings by websites like Redfin and Homes.com.
The ranking here below includes factors like universities nearby, tuition costs, college rankings, walking score, population, and property listing prices.
Ultimately, the investment decision you make depends on many factors, but this list can help you narrow down your research.
Disclaimer: Some of these markets may have occupancy limits which means there’s a limit to how many unrelated tenants there are per unit, so you might want to focus on buying a duplex, triplex, multifamily, etc if that’s the case or discuss with a real estate attorney before investing.
With that, here are some of the best places to buy rental property.
1. Austin, TX – University of Texas at Austin
Median Property List Price: $570,000
Tuition and Fees: $40,996
U.S. News and World Report Ranking: 38
Walk Score: 73
Population: 966,292
2. Gainesville, FL – University of Florida
Median Property List Price: $280,000
Tuition and Fees: $28,658
U.S. News and World Report Ranking: 29
Walk Score: 37
Population: 141,341
3. Provo, UT – Brigham Young University – Provo
Median Property List Price: $503,500
Tuition and Fees: $6,304
U.S. News and World Report Ranking: 89
Walk Score: 54
Population: 114,156
4. New Haven, CT – Yale University
Median Property List Price: $285,000
Tuition and Fees: $62,250
U.S. News and World Report Ranking: 3
Walk Score: 68
Population: 137,339
5. Baltimore, MD – Johns Hopkins University
Median Property List Price: $210,500
Tuition and Fees: $60,480
U.S. News and World Report Ranking: 7
Walk Score: 64
Population: 563,455
6. Athens, GA – University of Georgia
Median Property List Price: $318,000
Tuition and Fees: $30,220
U.S. News and World Report Ranking: 49
Walk Score: 27
Population: 127,793
7. Pittsburgh, PA – Carnegie Mellon University
Median Property List Price: $239,900
Tuition and Fees: $61,344
U.S. News and World Report Ranking: 22
Walk Score: 62
Population: 295,793
8. West Lafayette, IN – Purdue University – West Lafayette
Median Property List Price: $319,000
Tuition and Fees: $28,794
U.S. News and World Report Ranking: 51
Walk Score: 51
Population: 45,111
9. Albany, NY – University of Albany – SUNY
Median Property List Price: $225,000
Tuition and Fees: $28,248
U.S. News and World Report Ranking: 182
Walk Score: 65
Population: 97,593
10. Philadelphia, PA – University of Pennsylvania
Median Property List Price: $250,000
Tuition and Fees: $63,452
U.S. News and World Report Ranking: 7
Walk Score: 96
Population: 1,527,886
Original Article: [www.newbierealestateinvesting.com]
