Do you own a property near a university or tertiary education provider? You may want to consider renting it out to students attending these facilities. Some people are hesitant to rent as they have heard horror stories about how properties become run-down and unclean at the hands of these students. These horror stories, however, are the exception not the rule. Here we’ve compiled three easy tips that will help you increase the number of potential tenants, while preserving the value of your property (and your peace of mind!).
Set clear rules
Before selecting tenants you should interview them to make sure you are happy with how suitable they are to your property and vice versa. If you’re working with a rental property management company, you can provide them with a set of questions and criteria for prospective student tenants.
You want them to have fun and enjoy their experience, but they must be sensible and responsible when having guests over. Let them know that you do not tolerate mess and destruction of property.
Maintain contact with them so they can easily let you know if anything needs repairing or if they are experiencing any problems with flatmates or neighbours.
Make suitable preparations
After talking with people used to having university students as tenants, we’ve found a few tips on preparing your property to best accommodate these tenants.
** Invest in stain-resistant, durable carpet. While most students are tidy and sensible, accidents still happen. These carpets are easy to clean and will handle increased foot traffic from visitors and friends better than ordinary carpets.
** Provide suitable (preferably larger) recycling containers. This will ensure cans and bottles go in the right place while looking after the environment and keeping the place tidy.
** Students may be thankful for a fully or mostly furnished home as they may not own any furniture themselves. Keep in mind that they may like to share rooms to save on rent too.
Give tenants incentive
Asking for a larger bond and/or a few week’s rent in advance will ensure that your tenants are eager to get the bond back. You can legally ask for two week’s rent in advance and four week’s rent as a bond.
Have routine property inspections to ensure an acceptable level of tidiness is maintained and that your property is not in need of any repairs. Remember, you must give at least 48 hours notice and visit between 8am and 7pm at an arranged date and time.
Set and enforce your clear rules and tell tenants that repeat offenders (failures of flat inspections) will not be tolerated. There will be other students keen to snatch up a room or property close to where they study.
Steady flow of tenants
Renting to university students will exponentially increase the number of potential tenants for a property. By setting ground rules, making smart preparations and keeping open lines of communication, you can provide a good flatting experience for students (these social beings will recommend you to others) and most importantly provide you with peace of mind.
Do you have any other tips and tricks? Let us know in the comments below.
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