Recent trends in College student housing show a transition from traditional dormitories to upscale off-campus apartments and luxurious housing projects. With these new student housing options many students will prefer the off-campus apartment life over living on campus in a dormitory. College enrollments have boomed over the past few decades causing off-campus student housing to boom as well. This also effects the private sector in regards to building contractors and developers. New student housing projects has become big business. However, these new landlords and property owners need to vet these new applicants in a similar way to traditional apartment renting.
From Bloomberg.com (Aug. 01, 16):
The long-term theme is that college enrollment has boomed over the past few decades, and investment in new on-campus dorms hasn’t come close to keeping up. In the short term, the shares are likely rising because investors are looking to hedge against the possibility of a U.S. recession.
“In an environment of striking political and economic uncertainty, public investors are ascribing value to [the] certainty of cash flows in student housing,” said Ryan Burke, an analyst at Green Street Advisors. “In [the] young life of purpose-built student housing, it’s performed really well in good and bad times.” bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-01/these-landlords-are-making-a-killing-on-college-students
A through tenant background check on a student looking for off-campus housing needs to include a credit check (new students may not have a well-established credit history but still worth checking), a criminal background check, and probably most importantly reference checks. Also for further security it might also make sense to require a qualified guarantor, first and last month rent and/or a security deposit. A College student presents a larger risk when it comes to property damage. The reason for a thorough tenant screening system both for traditional apartment lending and student housing rentals is the same it is risk mitigation.
With new student housing projects on the rise and more and more students enrolling in College new developers may not have a solid tenant screening policy in place or due to higher than expected costs may skip the vetting process altogether. This of course would be a huge mistake and could open the door to property damage, reputation loss and even eviction which can be a costly endeavor.
Landlords and property managers of new and old student housing units would be wise to partner with a professional tenant screening company and perform due diligence on all student applicants a process that greatly reduces risk and of course helps secure profits. Tenant background checks can now be performed very quickly, efficiently and in a cost effective manner. Spending a small amount of money on a thorough vetting process helps save lots of money in the long run.
To learn more about recent trends in student housing along with why tenant screening still plays an enormous roll in the apartment rental process read recent TenantScreeningUSA.com press release.