#222: Student Rental Pro - The Mad Scientist of Student Housing

On this episode, Chris chats with Twitter's Anonymous @StudentRentPro on every trick in the book for how to strategically manage student rental properties. They deep dive into the economics of how to put together a profitable student housing deal, what matters in a student lease, and funny stories from the trenches of managing students. Enjoy! 

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(03:15) - Student Rental Pro’s background and RE portfolio

(05:12) - How did you get into student rentals?

(07:50) - What makes a great location for a student rental?

(10:58) - What’s your process for leasing a house for the upcoming school year?

(13:31) - What are the big things that matter in a student housing lease?

(15:54) - Why do you not include parental guarantors in the lease?

(18:59) - Do you do any kind of due diligence or application on the students who want to lease?

(20:13) - How do you handle parent complaints & work orders?

(26:05) - What’s the process of turning the house over from previous tenants to new tenants?

(30:40) - What amenities do you provide?

(32:48) - What are the tenants allowed to do in terms of drilling into the walls, painting, etc?

(34:35) - Pets or no pets?

(35:21) - Do you provide appliances?

(36:26) - How do you think about deposits?

(50:44) - How do you deal with police being called over a party?

(53:23) - How do tenants communicate with you and what is your manager’s job during the year?

Appfolio

(58:47) - What’s the process of selecting a tenant to be “House Manager”?

(59:43) - What stands out to you when looking at properties that will maximize rent?

(1:05:55) - Who does the yard work?

(1:07:35) - What are the most common maintenance issues you see and are there any preventative measures you take?

(1:11:10) - What’s the % increase you’re getting on rent with students as opposed to traditional tenants?

(1:13:28) - What’s the direction of your portfolio?

Twitter Questions:

(1:15:05) - Do you compete against institutional capital?

(1:16:20) - What would you prefer if you were to extend into a new market: A college-town or a town with a college in it?

(1:20:23) - SRP’s MF acquisition was based on listening to the podcast

(1:24:35) - Storytime w/ Student Rental Pro