Renting an Apartment to Students – Tapping into this Lucrative Market
If you’ve just invested in a nice new apartment, the last thing you might be considering is renting the apartment to students. You probably have a picture of the ideal tenant in your head, and your picture of a student doubtless comes close to this! It’s true that students have a bad name for themselves when it comes to renting, and maybe you’ve heard a few horror stories about apartments getting wrecked, but in reality, this includes such a small percentage of what can be a huge, and lucrative market.
So, here are some points you may not have considered that could have you re-thinking who you rent your apartment to!
Rental Apartment Location
Before we even start talking about renting an apartment to students you need to figure out if there’s a market for it. If your apartment is within a larger city there may be a university and/or college nearby with students who are living away from home, and hence need a place to rent while they’re studying. Obviously the closer your apartment is to the college the better – walking distance would be ideal, or at least on a bus route that’s within a few stops of the campus. If you’re going to market to students after all, you need to give them a good reason to want to rent from you.
Advantage of Renting to Students
The main advantage of renting to students is that it can get you more rental money. Obviously the exact rent you charge will depend on where you are in Canada, and where you are specifically located within the city, as well as the size and amenities of the apartment, but as a general rule of thumb you should expect to get at least a quarter more rent than you would when renting the apartment as a whole, because you are charging each one of them individually. Each student will be paying a larger amount for their share.
Find Out About International Students
Today in Canada there are more and more students coming from overseas to study in our universities, and these international students often have larger budgets when it comes to renting. If your local university has an international department you should get in touch with them and see if they have a list of potential apartments for rent that they provide to the students when requested. If you can get your apartment listed as a possibility you could find this is even more lucrative than renting to students who are Canadian.
Advertising Your Apartment to Students
And this leads nicely onto the last point, advertising your rental. If you’ve decided you do want to try renting to students you really need to concentrate on this niche and be specific in your marketing. Advertise the rooms separately rather than the apartment as a whole, and consider posting adverts on the campus notice boards or with the students’ union. If you can build a working relationship with several people at the university, and get your apartment listed, you could find that the students come to you with little effort on your part!
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