There may be nobody who knows more about how to get individual investors into the student housing business than Doug Fath – but you probably already know that.  Recently when I was speaking with him, he shared several ideas with me that were clearly the result of his experience in this business…

…I’d like to share them with you now:

  • Parents Must Co-Sign Lease – Have a parent or legal guardian co-sign for each student that is on the lease. Parents are not usually willing to have their credit tarnished over their child’s rent payments.
  • Stiff Late Penalties – For most students this is probably their first time paying rent. They are full time students and have other responsibilities and paying their rent on time may not be a top a priority. Creating and enforcing stiff late fees will quickly make the students realize that paying their rent on time is a major priority.
  • Two Month’s Security Deposit – If you are delivering a superior housing product after putting in a lot of money to fix up your property, you must protect your investment. Requiring two month’s security is a good way to let the students know that you expect the property to be kept in good condition.

There are several more particularly important ideas Doug shared with me about making the student housing business work for you, and I was impressed with every one of them.  If you’d like to learn more from Doug, let me know… I’ll bet I can convince him to give us some free training about this great topic.

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