I have no advice about rentals, though I will share a strategy that two different friends in NYC took. They purchased apartments for their college age students. After graduation they each gave their child the choice of becoming the owner and therefore paying the mortage and cc or selling and using the money for another apartment or home elsewhere. Both choose to stay in the apartments. It set them up nicely for that final launch into adulthood.

I have friends & colleagues who have done that.

A lot of reason that won't work for us. First, it's a 2br2ba so,too much apt for just one of them. Second, we can really only plan for the next school year, especially since 1 or both might go abroad. Also, it is far more costly to buy than rent in the area, so it only makes sense to buy if you are confident that prices will rise. Moreover, no idea if they would want to live there after school ... for one of them I am pretty sure not. Lastly, they each have 529s plans for their educations and you cannot pay a mortgage out of it, only rent, oh and ...gift taxes.

My college kids are in rentals, but in different markets. We pay about the same for both--one is a total stereotype of college housing (not university-owned, but in a row of student-rented housing). I can barely step foot in the place, but the landlord is highly responsive to my DS and his roommates and has taken care of numerous issues in a timely manner.

The other one is in new apartment building with rooftop pool, amenities galore, modern baths/kitchen. It had the online tours with floorplans, etc. It all looked good on paper. The management, though, has dropped the ball on a few key issues. Good lesson for DS, who's worked with them initially to get the issues resolved.

The point being, the management is key. Look at online reviews, and make some inquiries with managers to get a sense for how responsive they are.

Regarding rents and leases, friends recently rented a 2 br apt. in between houses. It was a newer complex in a popular area, and what you paid in rent depended upon how many months the unit had been unoccupied. The longer it had been unoccupied (even a month or 2), the more it was to rent it. It made no sense to me. But that was how they determined monthly rates for 6- and 12-month leases.

I think in your searches, the differences in prices based on lease length reflects the target audience, and leveraging for/against the academic year (or not, if they don't rent to college students).

Is the area between schools well populated with a lot of apartment complexes? I'm deliberately passing on advice for monthly rent. Must be an Eastern thing. :)

When you said there was an apartment you thought was ideal...except it's more Hampton Inn than a 4 star, what did you not like about the H. Inn-like apartment? Is security good? Would the girls (and you) feel safe if they lived there? I understand not wanting them in a dump but they don't have to have a luxury apartment for only a year, do they?

So what exactly did you not like at the Hampton? Orange carpet? hee

I am surprised to hear about a 9 month lease. Typically, you are forced into a 12 month even if your child plans to come home for the summer. Then, the apartment becomes an expensive storage facility for June, July and August. The lease options are wonderful except your kids don’t know what what they are doing next year!

That said, my DS rented apartments for 4 years in Philadelphia. He was a grad student so he didn’t run into the “ student” issue. He lived in 3 apartments over the 4 years he was there. Security deposits add up! Surprisingly, he never had big maintenance issues (heat or water), but I know his girlfriend’s house had a mice issue (shudder). With girls, safelty would be my first concern. How is the parking situation? My DS had street parking only for a few years in Phila. Bonus: he is now an excellent parallel parker!

Oh sorry I guess it slipped through the cracks but for sure it is a hoop to jump through. No one wants the co-ed culture where families/full fledged adults live. There are very taxing back ground checks/references required. You sound willing to co-sign their lease so maybe it will be easier. DH and I were not. Here big conglomerates are buying up shoddy "first time homes" doing nothing to fix their issues and renting them out to anyone with cash. My guess is that's where you need to look for your girls. I know that hits none of your marks but the competition for apartments is huge near college towns, they don't need to deal with the immaturity that comes with college kids on their own or the leasing issues when the renters needs do not match up with their contracts. You might find the timelines expensive at best. They want students in and out a month off of how schools run. Most college students don't want the year lease thing that is required either. In the end other than meal plans college dorms are by far the way to go financially. That or fraternity houses. My son opted out of the dorms when he discovered he could live in the frat house, for half the dorm cost and not have the burden of a meal plan. Then he found a gig serving at a sorority for food. My girls ended up renting dive homes with 5+ roommates to come out ahead. Those homes in college towns are tough to get also. It's not the time for it but back in the day my friends bought their kids homes, let the kid rent to friends then sold the house four years later.

The longer it had been unoccupied (even a month or 2), the more it was to rent it.

Sounds like they are trying to make up for lost rent.

Since one, or maybe both, might go oversees next year, it might pay for them to go 4S like apartment, based on your post. One question - are these furnished apartments? If not, a year lease is not a bad idea since they would need to get it liveable before classes started and pack/move once classes are over, not during finals. I would certainly not think twice about renting for a year and pay less versus nine months and pay more.

When DD1 rented in San Francisco, and DS rented in Chicago, I had to either be on the lease or sign paperwork as responsible for paying if they did not pay (they had money to cover tuition, rent, etc). Year three, DS bought a condo. He was there a decade so it worked out well.

I was going to say the same as ratherbesewing. I had to pay for 12 months for my kid's college apartments in their college towns. Nobody offered a school year lease. My "favorite" part was when they had internships out of town and we paid for the empty college apartment and the internship housing.

I live in a college town. Everything here rents from August 1 to July 31. Except for dorms, there is no university owned housing. The newer complexes rent per bedroom. The standard set up is 4 bedrooms each with an en suite bathroom. The 4 bedrooms open onto a common area which is LR, DR, kitchen, and laundry. You can bring your own ”party of 4” or the management will ”provide” roommates for you.

When DH and I were building, we sold our old house about 9 months before the new one was going to be ready. The new owners wanted immediate possession. I started calling around to see what we could find to rent. One place I called would not rent me the entire 4 BR apartment. They would rent us 2 bedrooms and find us roommates for the other 2. I do believe I laughed in the guy’s face.

My son bought a condo in Cambridge MA and lived there during grad school. He rents it now, and has so far excluded renting to undergraduates. Legally, undergraduate students are not a protected class, so it's not against the law to refuse them a rental. (Twice he considered renting to undergrads who were friends of family, but the rent turned out to be more than the kids/parents could pay.) In that Cambridge market, when units are empty for a time, it foretells difficulty re-leasing, and that can account for higher rents for shorter leases going forward, like an algorithm for costs-of-frequent-turnover. For your two girls, I'd put a premium on off-street parking.

As always, you guys are uber helpful. One thing that is different here is that none of these apartments are near any schools (ie as in walking distance). They appear to be geared toward young professionals and corporate relo.s

Smiling,

Legally, undergraduate students are not a protected class, so it's not against the law to refuse them a rental. This varies by state, which is why DH would have to take it to the Supreme Court. : ) In the meantime, however...

Like most lawyers, his docket of imaginary Supreme Court cases is lengthy. : )

Plenty of parking in all of these places, including garage parking.

Jojoco,

I guess you can either call it a 12mo lease or charge more make them pay 12months' rent over 9 months. The odd thing is that the numbers don't even work that way; they're all over the place and illogical. LOL Paris Hilton.

BBSTX, that is hysterical! IDK, maybe you could've found some fun roomies!

Dee, I can *totally* see that happening. An empty place over the summer is $10,000 out the window. One good thing about so many internships being remote is they can save on rents.

Allison,

Sounds like they are trying to make up for lost rent.

Well,the market is the market. Seems to me these companies are using data analytics like the airlines and deciding how to price based on property-specific. supply and demand factors.

In all cases we expect to co-sign, guarantee, whatever. They have substantial assets but these places are not geared toward fancy underwriting. The one place that won't rent to students takes guarantors, but not if they are full time students living alone. So it isn't about $.I get it; I would not want a place overrun by students.

They would need a place for 9 mo.s almost exactly. To me, 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after would be ideal. Furnished places would be closer to 4k than 3k, and ugly. One of the reasons I love this apartment idea is I want them to empty out their rooms here so we can get our house ready for the market. This is all an elaborate scheme to get them to clean their rooms, hahaha.

Arcy,

I know that hits none of your marks but the competition for apartments is huge near college towns

These aren't apartments in "college towns," that's the thing. If they were they'd probably just do whatever all their friends did. My girls say that adults over-romanticize dorm life. And, since between them their room and board is almost 32k, renting seemed plausible. Buying really makes no sense for reasons listed way above. : )

Rather,

LOL, yes, I learned how to parallel park living in Manhattan. But all of the places have parking. I am surprised to hear about a 9 month lease. All of these places offer every flavor, from 4 mo.s up to 15 mos. Again, although 4 of the 5 places will take students, this is not student housing. Fair amount of corporate relo it seems.

Oak, I loved the Hampton Inn place, and so did my girls. It wasn't as snazzy as the nicest ones we saw but was still newish and had a balcony and a fpl and a little laundry room in the unit (not just a closet). The problem was they do not rent to college students, period. We could hand them 12 mo.s rent cash, answer is still no.

Feathers, The other one is in new apartment building with rooftop pool, amenities galore, modern baths/kitchen. This makes me feel much better. I guess I just had an image in my mind and that was *not* it. They do understand and appreciate that these are very nice accommodations, at least. We were all surprised. One thing this exercise does do is make it crystal clear how much they need to earn when they are out on their own to live as they'd like. Keeps their eyes on the prize.

Keep looking you'll find a good match. And don't rule out housing nearer to one of the colleges. One summer I rented an apartment with two other of my college friends, we were all staying in town and working there over the summer. It was non-descript, sort of like you describe, not the Four Seasons but more like maybe a "Comfort Inn." It was summer, so maybe that was the main factor, but it was OK as far as having responsible maintenance, not overly rowdy, and even though it was a little tatty, not anything really terrible or gross either. I wanted something quaint and way off campus, not student, but it grew on me. Some apartments near campuses are mixed. I lived in one for a couple of years when I taught at a college. My cheapo apartment was populated by everything from seniors to families to college students. It had its problems, but it was livable and affordable and close to work. I'm not sure of your market but it sounds urban. Around where I live in a tiny college town, parents often buy houses and then sell them after the kid graduates. Houses here are that cheap . . .

It's also quite possible to sign a 12 month lease and sublet for the summer, happens all the time.

Yeah, not buying for a gazillion reasons as mentioned. Summer sublet is a good idea but i bet these places don't allow subletting, though now I will ask!

My goodness. Who would think this would be so hard.The problem of getting a place between the two colleges.

Looks like it’s the Four Seasons, or…..you get an apartment close to one but then one will be more inconvenienced.

No sure about the neighborhood, but an apartment complex is no guarantee of safety. In fact, maybe more concentrated so possible targets. There were sometimes muggings and car break ins in my apartment complex parking lot. Also, a lot of people living somewhere and there are bound to be a few nutcases. There was a serious act of violence in one of my college apartments, and it was all girls and had a watched entry. But it was someone who was known by her attacker. So there's that. Does not hurt to have plans for all types of safety situations near your living area. I think I mentioned once before that my former neighborhood had quite a rash of robberies but that was due to a former resident developing a gambling addiction and preying on his former neighbors to find money for his fixes . . . so one never knows . . .

All our grandkids have lived in college town apartments or houses. For an apartment, make sure there is visitor parking without a permit required. At least within limits. It can get really bad for parents trying to park without a permit to even visit for an hour or two, and some have been known to have their cars booted or even towed. Your area may be different not being exactly close to a college.

The lease length is weird, and doesnt seem to make sense. However, a month on either end, does it matter? For our DGD, for example, school doesn’t begin at the very beginning or end at the end of a month, so the extra few weeks gives her time to move in/out. Plus she has been into pre-school activities which meant she had to be on-campus 2-3 weeks earlier than most other students. For a gazillion reasons, one might want to stay in the same apartment another year while the other moves out and could possibly get another roommate.