Would you rent your property out to students?

[MyMiniCrib]

Hello,

I am about to buy my first buy to let and i was thinking that it will be good to rent out to students by the room as it might end up paying me well, no council tax to pay and renting by the room sometimes mean that the house is never empty (always having a tenant) and i might never have to renovate the entire house at one time.

Its a three bedroom with a living room, i could even convert the living room into a big room and rent that out as well. It has two toilets so it will be two to one.

Please, what are the ups and downs of renting to students?

Many thanks for your help!

 

[George79]

I prefer professionals more than students, but if you ask me the main up of renting to students is just like you said: always having a tenants. The main disadvantage is their youthful spirit which means a lots of partying, possible complaints from neighbors, damaged property...

 

[MyMiniCrib]

I know, the constant tenancy is very appealing. When a professional moves out, you will have to renovate the entire house before the new tenant can move in, you are spending money and also not getting money. I am not too sure about how much the youthful spirit of a student is a disadvantage, i was a student once (lived in a big house with 11 rooms) and we did not burn the house down (we did get complaints though) but i believe this will apply to professionals as well because they can also play loud music and we hear about a lot of deposit disputes on damaged properties (those are usually between professionals and landlords). If i can really screen the students i rent to, maybe mature students and do monthly checks on the property, i might be making good money on my property.

 

[George79]

Yes, if you do monthly checks on the property you might be making good money. Well said. Maybe I have a different opinion because I don't have any problems with professionals and I have a good ones, also they are easy to find for me because I've develop space strategy and connections

 

[MyMiniCrib]

Would you like to share this strategy with an 'up and coming' like myself ? Also do you rent the entire property to one professional or are you also renting by the room.? What happens when they move, you have to renovate and the house is empty with no rent right?

 

[George79]

These are the little secrets of the great masters But, some of my friends are working in large corporations which means a lot of contact with professionals. I'm renting by the room, I prefer that. Only three professionals left and at the same time I got a new folks.

How old are you? Students can be more common option for younger than for older landlords. Professionals are less stressful solution to older landlords, or those with less time for handling everything.

 

[MyMiniCrib]

These are the little secrets of the great masters But, some of my friends are working in large corporations which means a lot of contact with professionals. I'm renting by the room, I prefer that. Only three professionals left and at the same time I got a new folks.

How old are you? Students can be more common option for younger than for older landlords. Professionals are less stressful solution to older landlords, or those with less time for handling everything.

.I am still under 30 so i am hoping i have the stomach for it. What about getting an estate agent that handles these things ?

 

[George79]

A lot of things depends on how much tenants you have, or you will have. A few of them will not hurt you I'm also under 30, this model with agents is unknown to me.

 

[JenniferKelly]

I think to rent a house to the students doesn't sounds good. As there will be various negative aspects to it. Group hangouts at home, late night parties, etc, neighbors may get disturbed by that you will start getting complaints. And further because of negative feedback, it may become more difficult for you to rent it again.

 

[George79]

I think to rent a house to the students doesn't sounds good. As there will be various negative aspects to it. Group hangouts at home, late night parties, etc, neighbors may get disturbed by that you will start getting complaints. And further because of negative feedback, it may become more difficult for you to rent it again.

Well said, Jennifer.

This is student waiting for his friends :ridinghorse:

These are professionals drinking coffee and enjoying the silence :tee:

 

[mattheonline]

When I was a student, the house was not looked after enough. They would not fix the boiler in the depth of winter, single glazed front windows...

The place was not decorated at all well. Basically, it was not in good condition. The good side to this is we could not make it any worse ;-).

I would say if want to look after your property well then do not rent it to students. If you do not mind the condition then yes - rent it out. This is probably the thinking behind my old landlord too.

Matt.

 

[J-Nevil]

Depends on the property I suppose, I think students can get a bad rep and generally can be relied upon not to cause too much trouble, but this is just from my experience.

 

[gih_hk]

Completely agree with everyone on their stand on choosing tenants for your buy-to-let. First time landlords may find it tempting to jump on the first applicant that comes knocking but as an investment and a business, screening and filtering who stays in your property is crucial.

Unless the case is that they belong to rich families where parents actually pay for rent while the kids attend school. That is a different story.

 

[SophieEvans]

Sometime it can be a bad decision to give a property on rent to student. Before giving, you have to check each and every detail of that student.