Renting rooms to Uni students...Am I mad?

[Dazz]

Wheres Perp when you need her?

....she can't quite come to the keyboard just now, she's flat out chasing charming enlightened youth with no money who haven't paid any rent for months and mopping up spew and other pleasant bits left for her....


To the original poster - yes indeed !!


I'm not sure of a worse demographic to conduct serious business with than some wet behind the ears spoilt grotty Mummy's boy who couldn't give a **** and doesn't have two brass razoos to rub together.


Spend 2 months reading the legislation controlling this class of property. You'll give it up as a bad joke after the first few days reading.

 

[jaycee]

....she can't quite come to the keyboard just now, she's flat out chasing charming enlightened youth with no money who haven't paid any rent for months and mopping up spew and other pleasant bits left for her....


To the original poster - yes indeed !!


I'm not sure of a worse demographic to conduct serious business with than some wet behind the ears spoilt grotty Mummy's boy who couldn't give a **** and doesn't have two brass razoos to rub together.


Spend 2 months reading the legislation controlling this class of property. You'll give it up as a bad joke after the first few days reading.

Piercing and tattoo shops seem to do pretty well off them

But I wouldn't be setting one fo them up either myself

 

[The Y-man]

I am thinking of buying a six-bedroom house near a University. It is for sale for $250,000 and I can charge $110 per week for each room (plus utilities). .

Please note if the property is in Victoria, these laws apply:

http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/CA256902000FE154/Lookup/CAV_Publications_Renting/$file/rooming_houses_a_guide_for_residents_and_operators.pdf

The Y-man

 

[timtam]

From my experience-

Art students= bad. Put lots of holes in the walls. Friend always has a dog that stays over. Cleaning is not part of the mindset. Collect lots of crap.

Female students = bad. Lots of mess in the bathroom and spills on the floor/clogged toilets. Not always as clean as one may assume. Fill washing machine to the brim and leave clothes in it for days. Leave clothes on line for days. Don't waste money on washing powder/toilet paper/cleaning products (need to save to go to Bali). Fill bath to the brim and stay there for extended periods of time. Never turn off lights.

Male students = bad. Bring mates home for a drink that turns into a free-for-all. Room always stinks - rarely wash clothes. Never clean up vomit.

Asian students = bad. Like to cook but not clean up. Chicken legs, fat, chopsticks...all down the sink. Toilet never cleaned. Lots of visiting (ie homeless) friends. Lots of food/eating in the room. Lots of downloads for friends - sleep all day but talk all night on skype. Never turn off lights - or anything else. Hang washing out the window.

First year uni students = very bad. Not old enough to be responsible but old enough to be a real pest. Think its great that boyfriend/girlfriend can stay over as much as they like -for free. Parents don't want to know. Relationship breakdowns become a 'whole-house' issue.

Medical students = only have experience with nurses - all of the above applies.

Noone believes they used 'that much' electricity.

Hope this has helped - perhaps other people have more positive stories to share

Have had experience with two differnt universities - same story for both.

 

[weg]

According to my brother who's had 3 student/share households for a few years now, German females and Korean men are the go.

Apparently, German women help keep the whole household in line .

Perhaps the OP can find a German girl who he charges cheap rent to, in exchange for her acting as house manager and rent collector .

 

[Deltaberry]

timtam is spot on. I'm amazed people put money in to this. It's basically like running a business and really hands-on.

But if I were running a business I'd sure as hell want more than 5% yield or whatever rubbish yield you're going to get. I can go buy a cafe right now for 50% yield and probably have less to deal with.

 

[weg]

timtam is spot on. I'm amazed people put money in to this. It's basically like running a business and really hands-on.

But if I were running a business I'd sure as hell want more than 5% yield or whatever rubbish yield you're going to get. I can go buy a cafe right now for 50% yield and probably have less to deal with.

It is like running a business, but like ANY business it can be a success or a failure. It very much depends on who's running it and how they're running it.

If it's very hands on and stressful then I'd say it's not being run very well.

In my brothers case he makes an 'extra' 25K plus pa on these 3 houses for 2 to 3 hours work a week.

It's a side thing my SIL sees to (otherwise retired), that is part of their 'how can we increase our profit on the existing business even further' attitude, which has been very much part of my brothers business success.

He has other properties too, plus 2 other successful businesses, and could have easily retired comfortably well before 40 (now 43) but hasn't.

 

[timtam]

Need to get Korean men just after they have left the military - before that they have no idea about taking care of themselves (mum did everything). Having said that there seem to be some Aussie mums that could have taught the kids more about responsibity as well (eg, the bid does need to be wheeled out onto the footpath - and the maggots do come from somewhere).

Never had a German female - maybe the go. I think human nature is what it is and you can be lucky or not with who you have in your home/rental property. I have found the Chinese especially are always on the lookout for a better deal and move quite randomly. I had one young lady who figured out she was moving one day ahead of rent being due and wanted a refund for the day - that was after her mum stayed stayed for a month with no extra rent. She'd also somehow got a password and was tapping into another person's internet - whole months usage in one week; and so it goes on...

 

[Corey Batt]

They're all untrustworthy grots, I wouldn't rent per room to a uni student any day, unless the property was to be soon demolished.

 

[Deltaberry]

You might consider it if you have an already useless defunct negatively geared property. But if you were buying it to do this, then may I suggest you buy my business for 3.5x which would give you 30% return per annum? For $500k make $150k, not $10k.

 

[House_Keeper]

Please note if the property is in Victoria, these laws apply:

http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/CA256902000FE154/Lookup/CAV_Publications_Renting/$file/rooming_houses_a_guide_for_residents_and_operators.pdf

The Y-man

Does anybody know what are the relevant regulations in NSW?

 

[Theresa777]

timtam is spot on. I'm amazed people put money in to this. It's basically like running a business and really hands-on.

But if I were running a business I'd sure as hell want more than 5% yield or whatever rubbish yield you're going to get. I can go buy a cafe right now for 50% yield and probably have less to deal with.

That sounds very very interesting. I didn't know that about cafes. I will check it out. Thanks.