Answers To Common Questions about Investing in Student Housing in Athens, GA
If you’re interested in investing in student housing opportunities, we’re here to help. We put together this resource of our answers to the most common questions we’ve received over the years relating to student housing investments in Athens, GA.
If you have a question not listed here, please contact us and let us know! We’d be glad to answer the question and possibly add it to this resource for the benefit of others. For more information about buying or selling student housing in our market, please see our Student Housing Investments service page.
What makes a student property a “student property?”
While property can be leased to anyone, student properties are properties that typically trend towards student residents currently in undergraduate programs. As such, there is not a technical distinction. Rather, certain properties include factors making them attractive to students.
How do I find a student housing investment opportunity?
We search for opportunities on behalf of buyers based on their budget and expectations on return. In many cases, multi-family properties are not listed on Zillow like residential homes are. Therefore, we must reach out to owners directly to find opportunities.
Do I have to pay the utilities?
Typically, the tenants pay their own power, water, and cable bills. Owners pay any HOA and insurance costs along with property taxes.
How is it different than buying my personal home?
Rental properties are investments and often financed at a higher interest rate than your personal house. You should expect to put 20% down and have a higher rate slightly above prime.
What happens if something breaks?
Repairs are the owner’s responsibility to fix and we highly recommend you have someone in town manage your property to collect rent, handle calls, and lease the property for you.
How much does property management cost?
We see fees ranging from 5 to 10% of collected rent in our area. A rate of 7.5% would be a good expectation for management costs.
Can I choose my tenants?
You can set parameters like no pets or non-refundable deposits, but you cannot keep qualified tenants from leasing. Property managers are good at getting qualified tenants in your property.
What do you charge?
Our commission structure is negotiable, but in most cases, the seller of an investment property will pay our commission from the proceeds of the sale. However, we structure our fees based on the transaction. There is no set commission, but we often see 4 to 6% commission rates depending on the size of the sale and the number of agents involved.
For more information or to get started, please don’t hesitate to contact us.