Student Housing in College Station, Texas
Posted by Chris Tesch on Sun, Jun 20, 2010
This year it seems that even more parents are deciding to invest in a College Station home, duplex, condo or townhome. Student housing at Texas A&M is a ever present worry for parents sending their kids here.
Some of the issues that bother parents is the safety of the area, the expense of nice rooms, the fact that in many cases their student is living with an assigned roommate and the noise of the dorms.
Investing in a College Station home is the most reasonable step for many people. The clients that I helped yesterday have just found that their son was accepted to A&M. Their daughter has been here for a year and they have neices and nephews whose goal is to come here in the future. Obviously buying and holding won't be a problem in their case. The daughter is currently in a lease for $500 a month for her room plus a share of the utilities. With their son here the rent would be $1000 a month.
We found them a beautiful 3 bedroom, 2 bath home with a beautiful back yard and deck, spacious bedrooms and a safe neighborhood for under $150K. Their payments will be less than rent and the third bedroom will have a tenant to help defray the cost. At the end of the line they will sell probably with our typical raise in equity of 3-5% per year. Definately this makes sense for them.
Another set of parents I'm helping this week has found a four bedroom needing just a bit of work for $150K. The son has been here for a year and is hating where he is living because even at this newer "luxury" student living complex it's in huge disrepair. Mom and Dad are going to finance 120K for a payment of less than $1000 a month. Three roommates won't be a problem as he's got lots of friends and the roommates will pay about $450 each plus a share of the utilities. With the income of $1350 a month even the sons utilities are free.
There are times when renting does make sense. In the case of a student being here less than three years and the parents not wanting to be landlords or if the student isn't sure that they want to continue here renting may be the best alternative. There are, however, too many people that I run into that wish they would have done it at first opportunity. I've very rarely ran into people that wish they hadn't have.
For help with student housing purchases please call me. I'm your College Station student housing specialist.