Buying a house for college housing

[Anonymous]

What considerations did you have if you've bought a house for your kids to live in while at college? My oldest is a freshman in a college town. It looks like she will stay at this school for a 5yr combined degree. I also have a current 10th grader. My kids are very similar with similar interests. Currently the only reason he doesn't want to attend the school where his sister attends is because she is there. However, it's a really good fit for him and I'm encouraging him to be open to the school. I can envision a scenario where I'm paying for housing for one or both kids for about 6 yrs. I wouldn't be interested in a 6bd house, but maybe a 2bed/bath condo. The kids do get along and would be able to live together nicely. I would want him to live in the dorm his freshman year and not with her but starting in his soph year, it would be fine. I think they would have about 2 years of overlap. Of course there is always the scenario where he decides not to attend.

So---if you bought a house in your kids college town, why did you do it? The school is not a big football school or any sports school. Its on the west coast so we (parents) don't go out there often. My daughter will be staying on campus after soph summer and will need summer housing. A 2bed/2ba condo is about $600K with $500/mo in condo fees.

[Anonymous]

If it makes sense for financial reasons then it's a good idea. Depending on the rent in that area, buying a house might cost you less, plus the real estate keeps booming on west coast so it might be a good investment. Sell it after the kids are done, you might actually earn a handsome profit! But this is only valid for west coast invalid for Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Christ no. Home prices are falling and will probably fall more in the next 2-3 years. And do you really want to put pressure, even implicit pressure, on kid #2 to attend his sister's school and to live with her in the house you own if he does choose to go there? What if he pledges a fraternity and wants to live with his brothers? If you have money to burn and want to invest it, try wheeling SoFi options.

[Anonymous]

Its fine to buy a house, but I would not use that as an excuse to pressure your younger into 1)attending this school, 2) living with the sibling. He could attend there and want to live with friends, join a fraternity, etc.

[Anonymous]

Many families we know are doing this. Some kids would have both the on-campus dorm and off campus house. Provide a lot of flexibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Christ no. Home prices are falling and will probably fall more in the next 2-3 years. And do you really want to put pressure, even implicit pressure, on kid #2 to attend his sister's school and to live with her in the house you own if he does choose to go there? What if he pledges a fraternity and wants to live with his brothers? If you have money to burn and want to invest it, try wheeling SoFi options.

This would be my concern. If the money is no issue, assure your son that you have no expectation of him going to that school or living with his sister if he does.

[Anonymous]

Doesn’t make sense. The four year time frame for real estate investments is too short and puts it into speculation territory. You could hit a downturn and all you saved in rent is lost. Also the kid might not want to live alone or sign up to be a landlord aid.

I know families that did it for grad school, but socially is more isolating.

[Anonymous]

Does your kid want to live in a condo or a house with his buddies? Need to answer that first.

[Anonymous]

I know at my kid's school there are are parents who purchased largeish homes (5-6 bedrooms) and their kid is on a sports team and they rent to other kids on the team.

The house gets filled each year with a new crop of Jr/Sr athletes, and it seems like the ROI is decent.

Also, because the tenants know that it's owned by a fellow player (though soon to graduate), they treat the house much better than you would see with some of the college group rentals with no personal connection.

[Anonymous]

It's a LOT of pressure on your second kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its fine to buy a house, but I would not use that as an excuse to pressure your younger into 1)attending this school, 2) living with the sibling. He could attend there and want to live with friends, join a fraternity, etc.

This. You want your son to have social independence and living with his sister will definitely cramp his style.

[Anonymous]

I'd be worried about my son's ability to pull if he's living with his sister. Also, it's probably not the best time to be investing in real estate in the short-term. Look at market trends.

[Anonymous]

I would just be worried about liability issues.

College kids do stupid thing, illegal things, and i don't want it to happen in a place with my name in the deed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does your kid want to live in a condo or a house with his buddies? Need to answer that first.

This. If your kid has a group of friends that want to live together, then any house you would get would have to be close to campus and attractive to the whole group. Plus, as others said, do you really want to be your kids' friends landlord?

People do this at my son's college and I constantly see posts asking for roommates for their kid.

[Anonymous]

I live in a college town. Our current home was bought by parents for their kid to live in while in school. Then they gifted it to her as a graduation gift (yes, this felt insane to us). We got a hefty discount on the price because there was lots of deferred maintenance to be done - we got quite a bargain because we were willing to do the work of renovation. No regrets on our part. I would advise you to think about maintenance because you can't trust a college-aged kid to keep that up or know how to handle the usual stuff that comes with a home, even a condo.