Stream of income in 15 years, via "dorms"

[walleye]

RunningBum. Wintergreen's beautiful. We love to camp Sherando Lake up there too. I used to run cross country - is that the type of running you do? When I'm back in shape, I'll be interested in knowing some of the best trails if you don't mind.

The Mill Apartments are a perfect example, thanks very much. I'm running the numbers ... Hope your DD is enjoying school.

[charlie]

A variation on this idea is to buy a house in the town where your kid is going
to college and rent to his/her buddies. Make your kid responsible for keeping
it full and for keeping order. When your kid graduates, either keep the property
or sell as you prefer. Helps pay the mortgage and part of your kid's school
expenses. You might even make a little capital gain when you sell to the
next dad wanting to do the same thing.

Cheers,

charlie

[walleye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by charlie A variation on this idea is to buy a house in the town where your kid is going to college and rent to his/her buddies. Make your kid responsible for keeping it full and for keeping order. When your kid graduates, either keep the property or sell as you prefer. Helps pay the mortgage and part of your kid's school expenses. You might even make a little capital gain when you sell to the next dad wanting to do the same thing. Cheers, charlie

I like that idea & think I will incorporate it into my college planning, thanks. Since my boys are 4 years apart, it may be 8 years of the same place, or 2 different properties, depending on where they choose to go.

Actually, I hope they start at a community college first. Doing that and then participating in a co-op program allowed me to get away with something like $4K in student loans. That's a huge advantage when you're starting out.

Or, I'd like to create a business that one or both of them could run, especially if they don't turn out to be "college material."

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by walleye Freebird - I'm an engineer too, raised in the Jamestown NY area. Do you like Skynyrd, or is the name unrelated? To your point, lots of people here claim that Liberty students are some of the wildest since they come from very conservative families that have kept them under the thumb. Now they taste freedom ...

Definitely Skynyrd related...it was also my CB handle a long time ago for a solo drive from NY to FL in 1979 after my Mom relocated. That was a really fun time - 19 years old, still in college and ready to conquer the world.
The 5825 refers to my birth year and age when I bought my first house. Both are easy numbers for me to remember.

[lets-retire]

I don't know if the area your looking at has this option, but here goes. I have a co-worker who bought a piece of land paid it off, then decided to put a duplex on it. Originally the land was going to be for a house for him. Since that first one, he now has, IIRC, 15 or 20 properties he rents. Total time since his first has been less than 5 years. I figure when he starts getting them paid off he'll leave soon after.

[walleye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 Definitely Skynyrd related...it was also my CB handle a long time ago for a solo drive from NY to FL in 1979 after my Mom relocated. That was a really fun time - 19 years old, still in college and ready to conquer the world. The 5825 refers to my birth year and age when I bought my first house. Both are easy numbers for me to remember.

Skynyrd is one of those bands I'd wished I'd been able to see live, before the plane crash. I had tickets to Led Zeppelin when the tour was canceled due to John Bonham's death

Ya know, that makes me wonder about how to meet other people in my area that would like to get together when concerts come our way. Maybe what I'm really wondering is how to meet other people that are semi-retired, with similar interests? We're a minority... I will look for other threads about this.

Yesterday I ran into someone I worked with 15 years ago, and his wife. They talked about a Travis Tritt concert we had all gone to back then. They were remembering some "incident" that I don't recall. I wasn't sure if I should be embarrassed or not. Sometimes a fading memory is a blessing.

[walleye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lets-retire I don't know if the area your looking at has this option, but here goes. I have a co-worker who bought a piece of land paid it off, then decided to put a duplex on it. Originally the land was going to be for a house for him. Since that first one, he now has, IIRC, 15 or 20 properties he rents. Total time since his first has been less than 5 years. I figure when he starts getting them paid off he'll leave soon after.

I think that guy has it figured out. Think of the level of income he will be phasing into over time!

Funny thing about me. I don't think I'd be any happier with 10K/month as 5K/month. However, it would be very cool to be able to give away 5K/month. You could seriously help some people in need.

[Martha]

Our office had a client that developed similar housing near our local university. He has been very successful. I think he is successful because he got a great location near the school, the local rental market has very low vacancies, and he built before the bust so he was easily able to line up financing for the project. I do think that the issue is going to be getting financing.

[walleye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martha Our office had a client that developed similar housing near our local university. He has been very successful. I think he is successful because he got a great location near the school, the local rental market has very low vacancies, and he built before the bust so he was easily able to line up financing for the project. I do think that the issue is going to be getting financing.

Thanks Martha. As suggested, I'd better see if financing will be a show stopper or not.

If not, I'm coming to the realization that I don't mind sweat equity and maintenance work to make it happen - what I don't want is stress. Tenants are the wildcard of course.

Even though it would be a good bit of work, I think I'd enjoy designing the place myself, and helping to build it (at least be the general ctor). I have ideas to make it really compelling to students. If the first is a hit, why not put more of my eggs into building one or more additional units? Kind of like an annuity, without the worry about the financial health of the issuing insurance company.

[calmloki]

Quote:

Originally Posted by walleye .................. - what I don't want is stress. Tenants .........................................

What you said. fixing stuff is easy. peoples is hard.

[walleye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by calmloki What you said. fixing stuff is easy. peoples is hard.

Amen to that.

My wife is a special ed teacher for high school students, some with behavior problems. I'd have lasted one week in her job before I throttled one of the punks she has to deal with. Much easier to silence a squeaky floorboard ....

[brewer12345]

walleye, I have been dealing with lots of real estate investors/developers and lots of lenders lately. One thing is very, very, VERY clear to me: pick your spot and time with care. Great fortunes have been made in real estate, and great fortunes have been lot in it as well. When you do it is crucially important, as lots of peopel who bought a couple years ago are finding out to their chagrin.

I personally think you are nuts, but if you really want to do this I would A) find a partner with some experience and B) start drawing up a business plan and have very specific ideas fleshed out. Then go talk to a local bank, preferably one which you have arelationship and ample deposits with. Be prepared for skepticism.