College students are known for being able to stay up all night studying and then (hopefully) get to their class at 8AM the next morning. Many college students work hard to keep school their number one priority, keeping their grades high while participating in campus organizations and internships alike. That being said, college students can also be known for some less attractive attributes, such as getting entirely too rowdy when intoxicated and throwing parties that end with police officers showing up. As homeowners looking to rent out property in Tallahassee with Florida State University, Florida A&M University, and Tallahassee Community College here, the possibility of getting an application from a college student is very high. The question isn’t if you are going to receive those applications; it’s if you should actually consider them. Is renting to college students worth the added potential risk of damaged property or other issues?
Money
In terms of money, many college students still solely or partially rely on their parents to pay for things. Of course, this isn’t all students, but those that are planning on paying for their own living situation can be asked to make their parents the guarantor if nothing else. I spoke with Rami Deeb, a local homeowner, licensed real estate agent, and certified building contractor, regarding his properties and leasing to students. He currently owns two properties—a single-family home and a duplex; both were built around 2006-2007. When asked about finances, he said that because of his extensive application process and how closely he looks at them, he has never had to evict someone. For example, something he looks for is if the potential tenant has a good rental payment history. Something that he spoke very highly of was having good communication skills, especially with regards to rent. He would vocalize that if the tenant wasn’t able to turn the rent in on time, he would much rather be contacted to arrange something else than to have the tenant completely miss the deadline.
Expectations
Students are more than likely going to be a lot less picky when it comes to appliances or other aspects of the property. If you are renting to an established family, they might need to worry about children or pets being in that space and might even want to change things like paint or other aesthetics. College students, because of how short their time is there, probably will not want to make any significant changes. Besides putting a few nails in the wall, the customization of the space is probably not going to be a top priority. Because this is going to be a temporary space, their standards for flooring, whether or not it’s furnished, appliances, and even room sizing are going to be significantly lower than an established family. Less-costly facets (such as parking or location) are much more important to students than top of the line appliances.
Maintenance
Especially if this is the first home outside of the dorm, or first home that doesn’t include their parents, there is usually a slight learning curve when it comes to understanding what goes into house care and maintenance. When asked about the downsides of renting to college students, something Mr. Deeb brought up was the general wear and tear that occurs when people don’t understand how to maintain a house on their own. Things like paint chipping and showers getting clogged are small enough to not incur too much worry, but a college student might not fully know how to fix or mitigate them.
Length of Leases
Something else Mr. Deeb mentioned was how short the leases are. Due to students typically only needing housing during the school year and potentially during the summer, you are more than likely not going to have a student sign anything more than a one-year lease. There is always the hope that a student could re-sign a lease (because vacancies, no matter who you are renting to, always lose you money), but students are constantly moving and needing to be near different parts of campus. For example, if the student starts out as an English major, she would probably want to live on that side of campus, but if she changed her major to Education—whose classes lie on the opposite side of campus— she will probably sign a lease somewhere closer to the other side of campus unless she is in love with her housing situation.
The biggest takeaway is that yes, college students are different than older aged tenants. For example, Mr. Deeb said that from his experience if a college student is locked out, his first reaction might not necessarily be to call the landlord but to just break in through the back door. On the other hand, there are advantages to renting to college students; there is always a high demand for student housing in Tallahassee, their expectations are lower, and you can charge a little bit more because of a high turnover rate. However, there are also some disadvantages, such as, the potential risk of students not paying rent on time and general worry over the maintenance and care of the property; plus, a high turnover rate means fixing any issues quickly. It’s a high-risk, high-reward scenario that you will have to decide for yourself if it’s worth it. 
Caroline Murkey
Home & Yard Magazine
