Mastering the Art of Off-Campus Housing

 This episode is packed with lessons I learned the hard way as a landlord. We'll cover the good, the bad, and the ugly.

We'll break down finding the perfect place, like how to balance how much it costs with how close it is to everything, and making sure it's safe and has the cool stuff you want. This is all important whether you're craving freedom or your parents are freaking out about you being on your own.

Plus, we'll get into the nitty-gritty of signing a lease. This includes why getting everything in writing is key, what rights you have as a renter, and the deal with security deposits and getting kicked out (eviction laws).  I'll even share stories of awesome tenants who made my life easy and got sweet deals on rent.

So, whether you're signing your first lease or helping someone else out, this episode will teach you about the whole landlord-tenant thing and how to make it work for you.

This episode is brought to you by Premier Ridge Capital.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:29

You're listening to Wealthy AF the podcast, where we cut through the BS and teach you what it truly means to be Wealthy AF, and today I want to talk about parents' guide and students college students' guide to finding the right rental property when you want to live off campus. This is a subject that's not really touched on much, but it's something that needs to be discussed and this will be useful for you if you're just looking to rent or you're an investor or landlord looking to rent to college kids, as I have some experience in this arena as a real estate investor. So in 2007, I bought my first real estate investment. I was in the mortgage business and you guys have probably heard me share this story before, so I bought my first investment in 2007. It was close to East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania and my niche was renting to college kids. Well, I rented to this group of college guys they were great guys and in the last month of the semester, in May and this was in 2012, I'm going to say 2012 or so 2012, 2014. I can't remember the exact year they were in their last semester and the kids decided that they were not going to pay the electric bill because they had only a few weeks left. So they were studying for finals and they had a candle on and the kid that was studying dozed off. The candle caught the curtain on fire. The curtain caught the bed on fire. Before they knew it, the whole place was up in flames and my place was in shambles. It went down. So this goes into point number one of the five points that I want to discuss with you, into point number one of the five points that I want to discuss with you if you're looking to get off-campus housing for your kids, or you are the individual that's looking to get off-campus housing for yourself.

Speaker 1: 2:22

This leads me to this point, which is budgeting. It's important that you understand the importance of budgeting and if you're a parent, it's important that you have the discussion with your kids about the responsibilities that come with having your own place. Like hey, paying, you have to make sure you budget for your electric bill, right? I think, as parents, it's our responsibility and you as a student, as a young adult, it's your responsibility to build a budget. Go, start by allocating what your income is going to be, or what your income is from your job. Figure out what your fixed expenses like rents, electric, internet, groceries. Budgeting is an important part of creating wealth right and financial stability right. If you don't know where you are, you don't know where you're getting and you're going to get there every time nowhere and or you're going to have issues like the issues that these young college kids had.

Speaker 1: 3:22

On my first investment right as an investor lucky for me I had insurance. I always keep all of my properties insured and I always get my residents to get renter's insurance to protect their things and protect me and protect everybody. So, luckily for us, we were. We were protected in that place in that regard.

Speaker 1: 3:44

So next thing is you need to consider, is you need to consider the hidden cost of the other things that you may not be thinking, like furniture, transportation, unexpected expenses, right, like you need a book that you wasn't planning for an accident happening in your apartment and you need to now repair it and or take care of it. So the financial aspect of this thing is extremely important. So number one is budget. Number two, when you're thinking about and you're considering where to live, as it pertains to colleges, location, location, location and affordability. So there's benefits and trades and trade-off, guys Explore the pros and cons of living close to campus versus further out, which is more affordable. So just keep this in mind the closer you are to a college campus, if you're looking to go to a university, the more expensive it's going to be. The further you go out, the least expensive it's going to be. Right, the more affordable it becomes. So you have to consider those two and when you're considering that, consider the transportation options. Consider if you're going out further. Think about bus routes, bike lanes, carpooling, the cost of owning a car if you're living further away, like insurance, gas. Ensure transportation, make sure that your transportation is reliable and convenient. Same things for adults, right. If you're a young adult and you're getting your first apartment, these are the things you need to consider. Consider that you have a reliable car to get to and from work, to and from school and things like that.

Speaker 1: 5:22

The third thing in this point is the neighborhood vibes, right. Students and parents and you even as an adult. If you're looking for an apartment, it's important that you research safety. You don't want to live in the hood. You don't want to be in an apartment where it's crime infested and you don't feel safe. Coming home After you go out to dinner with your friends, you're coming home and it's dark, you're afraid to come home because you don't feel safe. You want to make sure you are paying attention to the neighborhood, vibes, students and parents both alike, and even if you're an adult just looking for a place to live, consider amenities. Consider how far is the grocery store, laundry Does the building you live have laundry amenities right where you can wash your clothes, or does it provide washer and dryer? Or is there a laundromat close by that you can just walk and do your laundry? Overall, feel the potential of the neighborhoods. You know, some of the things that you want to look for again is how far is the supermarket? How far is the gas station? Is there parking if you have a car? Is there pizza right If your kids college kids love pizza, right? Who doesn't love pizza? Everybody loves pizza. So how far is the pizza place? Can you get to the pizza? Can you get to the library? Is the library close to you? All of these things are things that you need to consider is, and you want to remember is that teamwork makes the dream work.

Speaker 1: 6:49

So for many years I rented to college students and one of the things that I experienced as an owner of properties that would rent to college kids was that birds of the same feather flock together, and that applies to all areas in life. Good kids hang out with good kids, bad kids hang out with bad kids, bad kids hang out with bad kids. It's just how it is. So more often than not, we would get good kids, I believe. I believe that for the most part, people are generally good, right and people want to do the right thing, although there is exception to the rules, to that rule, where there are some people that are just not good. We've all encountered those. So what I found was that when I had a group of good kids that would take care of the property, I would often request for them to give me a reference when they were leaving, to introduce me to their friends that might be interested in renting my place. And for you, as if you're on the other side of that, you want to then talk to your friends that live off campus and ask them which landlord do you know of or which places do you know of that I can go and get a place that's gonna treat me with respect, with dignity, and it's gonna keep the place clean, and and it's going to keep the place clean and safe and it's going to be affordable for me. So I encourage you to talk to your friends and to talk to those people that live off campus and they might be able to give you a referral. Also, schools have off-campus living departments so you can go to your school and ask them about off-campus living departments. They usually have list of landlords that are willing to rent to college kids and they have and make recommendations from there. So teamwork makes the dream work. That's important Networking with your friends in schools, going to local businesses and asking them wherever college kids frequent, asking the owners if they know of any apartments in the area or any owners that rent to college kids that they recommend that are good and that will treat you guys very important. That will treat you with respect and provide a clean, safe environment for you to live in.

Speaker 1: 9:07

Number four understanding the lease lingo. Understanding what the lease says and what your rights are right so decoding the lease a guide for students through understanding key terms and the lease agreements, such as rent payments when they're due, the deadline, subletting policies A lot of owners and a lot of leases do not allow subletting, so be careful. Even if you're just a regular renter, you've got to make sure you're paying attention to that, because a lot of lease terms do not allow subletting and some do, but most don't, from what I find. What are the maintenance policies? What are the turn times? Do they have a system? Does the landlord have a system to take your maintenance requests? If you have a leaky faucet, a leaky sink, you have a clogged toilet, what's the process? A good landlord key for you would be a landlord that has a property management company or they're self-managing that you can, 24 hours a day, go on their website, go on their system, input what the problem is and you're talking to someone in the middle of the night. If it's an emergency, they have a phone number for an emergency. If it's not an emergency, it's just a regular work order. You can input it in there and within 24 hours they give you a timeline. They'll have a maintenance person out there taking care of your issue. So you have to make sure that you understand your lease and as to what their systems are to taking care of you when you're in need.

Speaker 1: 10:33

Always ask questions right. Encourage, I encourage you to ask clear questions about the lease with the landlord or the property manager and emphasize getting everything in writing. So, just like I said, what's your term time to get maintenance requests taken care of? Make sure you understand that. Make sure it's in writing. Make sure you understand the logins. Make sure you understand all of these key components about your lease. Also, know your rights. Get informed, both parents and students, even if you're just a person renting a property. Understand your rights. Understand what happens with your security deposits, what's the eviction procedure. Knowledge is power, guys. Understand how things work.

Speaker 1: 11:21

Your lease usually says if a landlord needs to do something in your apartment, they need to give you or they need to show the apartment, or they want to come in for an inspection and the landlord has the right to do that and a property manager but they got to give you notice. They just can't knock on your door. Show up. This is part of understanding your rights. All of this stuff is written in your lease. Usually it's 24 or 48 hours. Of course, if it's an emergency and there's water in your apartment that's leaking, you have a pipe that busted and is leaking into the next apartment downstairs, that's an emergency. The owner, landlord, property manager has the right to go in to conserve any further damage. Of course, that's an emergency. That makes sense, but, other than that, understand your rights. A landlord can not go into your property just unannounced, unexpected knocking on your door. Let me in Number five negotiation nation Like this one, because it's important that you negotiate right, like you want to get the best deal for yourself and you want to create a win-win situation. The best deals are the ones that create win-win situations.

Speaker 1: 12:19

I used to have these college kids I used to rent to and they were amazing. These guys were amazing. When you're renting to college kids, usually boys have the negative connotation that people that rent to them don't want to rent to boys. My experience actually was the opposite. I had a group of boys that I was renting to. It was Vinny and his brother. I can't remember his brother's name. This was such a long time ago and these guys were amazing. Anytime I would go there, the place was clean the place, they would cut the grass, they were quiet. The neighbors loved them. They were mature. They were mature young men. They were really good group of guys to have. They actually referred me another group of guys when they left. But this was a really, really positive experience, in contrast to the experience that I had before with the kids that burned down my property, right, these were good, responsible young guys.

Speaker 1: 13:16

And then I had a group of girls that literally were having parties the cops were getting called. We were getting noise complaints all the time. Parties the cops were getting called, we were getting noise complaints all the times and they literally trashed the place. And trashing the place, guys, whether you're a college student or not, is the fastest way to lose your deposit and it's the fastest way to get yourself evicted. So don't do it. The most attractive way for you to negotiate your lease and I want you to understand something if you're a college kid, if you notice, when you go out there and you start looking at off-campus housing, you will notice that the rents are significantly higher than regular market rents for regular family, for college kids, and the reason is because of the partying and the heavy wear and tear that college kids put on properties.

Speaker 1: 14:11

When this happens, right when you're a good tenant and you're like Vinny and those guys that took care of the place they were quiet, they were clean, they communicated effectively. They only called when things were really needed in the property. They would do things that really needed in the property. They would do things that they could take care of On your renewal of your lease on the following year. This actually gives you bargaining power. It gives you power to negotiate, to go back to the owner or the property manager and say, hey, I now have a track record, you know who I am. Look at how I keep my place, I don't party, you've never had any complaints. And now that gives you leverage to negotiate better terms and better pricing for yourself, right? So I encourage you to first of all, behave well. Whether you are a student or you're a regular working person, the same things apply, same rules apply. Behave well. And when you do that and you become a good tenant or a good resident, then owners want to keep you long-term and they're willing to talk and they're willing to negotiate and give you better terms. Sometimes it's not money, sometimes it's terms, right. Sometimes it's terms and when I mean terms, for those of you that don't understand, that could be hey, maybe you waive any late fees if I pay past the 10th. That's a term. Right, that's a term. So you can just negotiate different things. Hey, I'm a good tenant, so maybe you pay for the water next year. And I don't pay for the water, that's terms. You could just create better situations for yourself when you have a track record right. So if students have a good credit score and you also have good references, leverage that right. Leverage that to negotiate your rent and always be okay to walk away when you're in negotiation. He who is willing to walk away in negotiation really has the power.

Speaker 1: 16:09

Thank you guys for listening. I hope this episode brought a lot of value to you. If you or someone you know needs to hear this information is it going to college or it's about to get their first apartment share this episode. You know this is good, good insights for anyone that's looking to get started in life or just get a new apartment or starting the college life. If you're a parent and you think your child needs to hear this stuff, please do share it. Make sure you can. You can check out my Instagram, follow my Instagram. Put in a lot of content. I'm everywhere and you can share this. Podcast this is all over in all of the podcast platforms. Appreciate you guys listening Really. Podcast this is all over in all of the podcast platforms. Appreciate you guys listening Really. Grateful that you're here and I hope you found value and that this information empowers you and makes you better. Peace out.