What Do College Students Want In Summer Housing?

By Francine Fluetsch on May 12, 2015

Summer is just around the corner, and you know what that means: it’s time to look into who will be renting your place for the summer.

A lot of students need summer housing if they are sticking around for summer classes, a job, internship, etc, and will be looking for cheap and easy renting accommodations for their short stay.

image via reslife.umd.edu

So, what exactly are they looking for?

1) Furniture

If you are helping your current tenants sublet for summer, you are going to have an easier time filling the spots. Students who are going to be staying over summer might only be there for a few weeks, so moving in a bunch of their stuff would be a waste of time, and if they were living in the dorms before they might not even have any furniture of their own to move in.

If you have a place that has at least some of the furniture remaining in it (essentials like a bed and lighting) these are key selling points for summer renters. I had a friend who was promised a room, but when he got there, there was no furniture, no light, and a guy was still currently occupying the room. If subletting is on the agenda, you might need to play referee with your current tenants so all the transitions go smoothly.

2) Cheap rent

Renting over summer usually means sharing the rent with current tenants if the summer student is going to be subletting, or at least a price reduction to the usual asking price of the rent. Cheap rent is another great way to get students to rent your places up fast.

Of course, then rent can be adjusted based on the place, what is all in there, and how long the person will be staying there. So you don’t have to go chasing a bunch of new tenants, you might want to make sure you get some students that will be staying for the whole summer.

3) No drama

Most people do extensive roommate checks before living with people (the dorms have taught us to be cautious), so if a student is moving in somewhere for summer and will have roommates, things could get messy. You’d definitely want to have all the potential roomies meet and exchange contact information, so they can somewhat get to know one another before having to move in.

Also on the no drama note, I’d advise having each person accountable for only their portion of the rent, since they don’t know one another that well. My landlord has my roommates and I send just one check for the rent during the regular academic year, which totally makes sense, but if I was going somewhere briefly for the summer and I suddenly had to trust strangers to turn their rent in on time to me or me to them, I’d be a bit worried.

This might be a bit more of a burden on you, but then you’ll at least know who is being responsible in that house and who you’ll have to chase after. It will get the students to feel more at ease and hopefully prevent roommate drama.

4) Easy access to campus/work

A student who needs to stay for the summer is going to want to be in close proximity to where they need to go. If your place is close to public transport, or is an easy walk to school/downtown, you are in luck. Really work any angle you have when it comes to your location. I know this is a big factor for me, and for a lot of other students as well.

5) Rules up front

Sometimes it’s a grey area for what is allowed in housing and what isn’t since pretty much every place comes with its own set of rules. Students want you to be straightforward with them, and not have some hefty fine later on when they realize they did something against the rules. If you have them sign a temporary lease (which I highly recommend), make sure to go over with them all the do’s and don’ts of your place.

Are there quiet hours? Can they bring pets? Are there only a certain amount of parking spaces? While knowing these rules up front may deter a few potential tenants, you will have peace of mind that the tenants who agree to the lease with rules will be less likely to break them.

6) Possibility of extension

While the lease is technically only for the summer, would there be room if the summer tenant wanted to stay? If they like the place and location and don’t have another place lined up, trying it out during the summer could be a great way to get some yearlong tenants. It’s also a great way to see if you even want to offer them the extension, but if you are considering it, try to bring it up a good while before school starts back up so they will be able to think about the offer.

Renting during the summer can be a bit daunting, but if you show the students what they want, you’ll be all rented out in no time.

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