Leasing to students

Discussion in 'Property Management' started by Ros, 14th Jan, 2017.

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  1. Ros

    Ros Active Member

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    Hi all,
    I'm interested to know people's experiences, if any, in renting to students.
    I'm not talking dedicated student accommodation.
    Our property has been advertised for 1.5 weeks (2 Saturdays) and the predominate enquiries have been from groups of students who would be interested to lease it as it's reasonably easy to get to the Uni (approx. 15 mins) via a couple of modes of transport.
    Our PM obviously is hoping for a family as it's believed that students won't look after the place very well but one group even suggested they may pay $65 pw more than what we're asking.

    Thoughts?
     
  2. pwt

    pwt Well-Known Member

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    Have 2 IPs that were rented to students before with no issue. I was once a student and rented many places during my study years and we kept the place clean bcos we needed our bond back :D

    Having said that, there are good and bad tenants, student or not. If you are worried, get the PM to do a 6 monthly inspection with photos. If the PM can't do that, get a more proactive PM.
     
  3. D.T.

    D.T. Specialist Property Manager Business Member

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    Its going to depend on the individual students. Some like to party and are hopeless with money and some are the opposite.

    How many bedrooms is it, how many of them are there? How much does the property cost and how much are they earning?

    Generally prefer to go for ones that have jobs while they're studying , rather than rely on parent or govt welfare, as this shows they have their **** together.
     
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  4. mikey7

    mikey7 Well-Known Member

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    $65/wk more is pretty enticing..
     
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  5. Luke T

    Luke T Well-Known Member

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    get Parents to go on lease too?-make sure they work at same time as study
     
  6. Xenia

    Xenia Well-Known Member

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    If it's under one lease contract and they are jointly liable and insurance in place then it wont matter what they do. Student, employed, retired. As long as all criteria checks out.

    If you are leading individual rooms - different story and different risks and again the lease is what counts as employed people can also lease individual rooms.
     
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  7. Tejas57

    Tejas57 Member

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    My first IP was in the Toowong area of Brisbane. For those who do not know, Toowong is close to both the University of Queensland and also Brisbane city itself, where The Queensland University of Technology is.

    My first tenants were a young married couple who moved out when they had a child and I had trouble letting the unit.

    We had some international students apply to rent the place. they offered an extra $30 a week to cover re-leasing fees as they knew i was reluctant due to this. i accepted and honestly, it was the best decision i made.

    they were fantastic tenants. in the lease info supplied to them i gave them a book on tenants rights and obligations (which i advise anyone to do when leasing to international students, even better if you can get it in the students native tongue) this meant we were all on the same page.

    it's worked so well that when the unit below mine went on sale i brought that as well and also have rented that to students with no issues.
     
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  8. Gockie

    Gockie Life is good ☺️ Premium Member

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    Good but...
    While cashflow is good, there's just the risk of low or no CG if the market is oversupplied.
    I suggest if you were to perhaps buy a third unit in the same area you would be holding too many.
    Just think about it. Lots of other properties and places out there. You could do similar elsewhere, just add some diversity.
     
  9. The Y-man

    The Y-man Moderator Staff Member

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    Yep - as politically inappropriate as it seems, my bet would be on the internationals, and non-partying, rich-parent, student-visa demographics at that. They can't afford to get kicked out or get a bad tenancy record - it can affect their ability to stay in the country.

    The Y-man
     
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  10. Hosko

    Hosko Well-Known Member

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    We have a 1 bed unit in Brisbane that is near the Uni. We lease this to Int'l students for last 3 years. Rent is paid in cash, only had a problem when one tenant disappeared for a month. He was in front with rent at the time, then later showed up with a wad of cash and got up to date and more.
    Place has been kept to a good standard, minimal request, the only challenge has been the lease start and finish dates but this gets rectified by charging a higher rent so the same amount of cashflow coming my way per year.
     
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  11. bashworth

    bashworth Well-Known Member

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    At the end of the tenancy there were around 100 pizza boxes and at least 50 boxes of empty Corona bottles left in the garage.
     
  12. Tejas57

    Tejas57 Member

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    thats true and until september i also owned 2 places down in logan (i sold up as it was just too much of a hassle and the rental returns were not worth the crap involved.)

    i'm looking at buying another IP on the northside of brisbane - the valley or newfarm
     
  13. Gockie

    Gockie Life is good ☺️ Premium Member

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    Hi @Tejas57, just a suggestion that most forumites tend to think, which is don't invest in inner city apartments in Brisbane. There's a strong likelihood there will be too many in the near future, not enough demand and that apartment prices will go down. Banks may not do more than 80% lends on them because of that risk. Can you buy a house or townhouse in the area?

    Note, I could be wrong but that's what many forumites are thinking.
     
  14. Tejas57

    Tejas57 Member

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    i agree on this. i'm not jumping onto any units at this time. although i am looking at investing this is more a long term thing. i don't need to do this anytime soon so i' going to hold off until prices drop
     
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  15. Zoolander

    Zoolander Well-Known Member

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    Agree with this tactic. I have three international students renting out place for about 9 months now and theres been no issues. I get all the students names on the lease, track closely how many extra accesa cards are requested and the PM does half yearly inspections in case they cram a dozen bunk beds into the living room.
     
  16. eskander

    eskander Well-Known Member

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    @Ros Definitely try to have them all on one lease as this will save you a huge headache, but generally if picked well shouldn't be an issue and can be win-win for both of you
     
  17. Ros

    Ros Active Member

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    Thanks all - we have received an application from 4 students.
    The catch: parents paying because all full time study and only 1 has employment via scholarship at Monash
    PM is asking more questions
     
  18. Zoolander

    Zoolander Well-Known Member

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    Hi Ros, uou can ask the PM if having rent paid more in advance 6-8 weeks instead of 4 would help compensate for the tenants lack of income. Havent done this before- just an idea
     
  19. The Y-man

    The Y-man Moderator Staff Member

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    From Paying rent and rent in advance - Consumer Affairs Victoria


    Rent in advance in a tenancy agreement
    If the rent is to be paid weekly, the landlord or agent cannot ask for more than 14 days’ rent at the beginning of a tenancy.

    In any other case, provided the rent is $350 a week or less, the landlord or agent cannot ask for more than one month’s rent in advance.

    The landlord or agent may be fined if they do not follow the above.

    If the rent is more than $350 a week, the landlord can charge rent in advance for the full term of the lease (unless the lease term is more than five years).

    .

    The Y-man
     
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