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Student Accomodation, Homes For Rent, Rental Home Apartments, Rental Homes for Western University (UWO) and Fanshawe College Students in London, Ontario

Western University (UWO) and Fanshawe College Student Tenant Move Out’s: Be Prepared

9/6/2014

 
Since September 1 is a major date on the calendar for any landlords and tenants in the Western University or Fanshawe College student rental bubble in London, Ontario, it is essentially to be prepared for this specific day. As a landlord or owner of a property, it is very difficult to turnover multiple units at a time as:

1. You cannot multiply your tradespersons. Your cleaners can’t all clean on the 31 of August, so you must stagger the painters, carpet cleaners, maintenance, repairs spread over several days.

2. Organization is lacking. Landlords need to make an excel document these days with the staple turnover items and that add/subtract items when dealing with specific properties as some are better than others.

3. Keys. To deal with the key situation for new tenants, especially if you are a Landlord who doesn’t live in London, I would invest in a front door lock with a key code that you can change every year, which will save you money and grief in the future.

4. Parents. Many student rentals are 4,5,6 even 7-8 bedroom houses in London. It is very difficult to deal with (usually) a disaster that the students leave behind, and less than 24 hours later have the house back up to par for the multiple tenants who are moving in. Students are slightly more forgiving then their parents though. Dealing with roughly 5 students moving in, and 5 sets of parents helping their children move in, who all have different ideas and requests, is impossible when you are dealing with turning over multiple properties.

5. Early move ins. This year was particularly difficult for Landlords, since Labour Day lands on September 2nd is when school starts for Fanshawe College students. A lot of these students (and parents) could not get a truck/time off on September 1, so they request to move in earlier (August 27, 28, 29, 30) and this is impossible to accommodate when there are tenants currently occupying the units until August 31.

To organize and solve these issue, Landlords in London, Ontario need to address the following in regards to new tenant expectations:

1. Keys will only be handed out on the first day of the lease. If you are a smart landlord, change your locks to a keycode lock so you won’t have to meet tenants at the property

2. No one will be moving in early. When signing the lease, make sure that you are clear that you need some time to turn over the unit, and moving in early will only hinder this process.

3. End leases 5-7 days prior to the end of the last month. This will be difficult with students (who usually have exams in the last month of their leases expiring in May) but would really help out Landlords who would have 5-7 days of an empty house to clean, empty, repair and maintain for the next group as opposed to trying to accomplish this task within less than 24 hours.

4.  Parents need to be put on notice that only those who signed a lease with the Landlord will have conversations with the owner/landlord of the property. A good landlord will have 99% of the problems solved prior to the new tenants moving in, and there will be no problems with the parents.

5. Tradespersons sometimes are not reliable, or are also extremely busy to accommodate your requests. It would be beneficial to make a few phone calls and have another crew of cleaners, painters, handymen, etc. waiting in the wings to lend a helping hand if the turnover does not go over as planned.

AVERAGE STUDENT RENTAL PRICES AT UWO WESTERN UNIVERSITY STUDENT ACCOMODATION IN LONDON, ONTARIO – OFFICIAL STATISTICS!

1/30/2014

 
There are several hundred student rental properties available for Western University students at the moment. It is a difficult time navigating school, social life, your current living situation, and organizing a group to live with starting on May 1. Add in searching online for houses, making appointments, going to showings, the frozen temperature, and you don’t have a recipe for success. What we have done here is tried to make your life a little bit easier. Below are the average rental prices of student accommodation what you are going to pay for (all inclusive) at Western University in London, Ontario:

Average Student Rental Western University (UWO) London Ontario including Apartments:

Bachelor Apartment: $549

1 Bedroom Apartment: $682 ($772 Downtown)

2 Bedroom Apartment: $456 (each person)

3 Bedroom House: $458 (each person)

4 Bedroom House: $463 (each person)

5 Bedroom House (and up): $464 (each person

Now, we don’t necessarily agree with these statistics. They are provided by all of the listing on the UWO Western University Off Campus Housing Website. These prices can increase by 30% depending on location (i.e East London vs. Downtown). As of right now, here is a more realistic perspective on how much we observe average student rental prices near Western University in London, Ontario including Apartments:

Bachelor Apartment: $565

1 Bedroom Apartment: $1000 + utilities. 

2 Bedroom Apartment:  $900 + utilities (each person)

3 Bedroom House: $450 (shared) $550 (free standing house) each person

4 Bedroom House: $460 – 550 + utilities each person

5 Bedroom House (and up): $475 – 550 (each person)

As you can see these prices are a little bit higher, but once you focus on densely populated student areas in London (Old North, Near West, Masonville, Downtown, etc.) the prices for student accommodation rise dramatically. The reason for this rise is because the cost of living in these areas is higher, and this housing (especially new apartment buildings) are all updating, renovating, adding amenities that make their units very attractive for Western University students. 

Why Is Western University Always Building More Student Housing? How Will I Get My Student House Rented In London?

12/21/2013

 
Western University (and by extension Brescia, King’s and Huron) have and will in the future keep building new buildings and renovating older buildings. This will not change. There are two types of logic here from Landlords:



1.       I don’t like Western building more student housing because it will be harder for me to rent out

2.       I live Western building more because they will bring more students to the city, and by extension I will rent my house out

If you fall in logic #1 you will have a hard time, because Western is not going anywhere. The reason why Landlords in London, Ontario rent to students around the campus is because of Western and its reputation.

 Here is a little update on Western’s plans for building and renovating their students housing:

-          In September 2013, Ontario Hall residence added 600 more beds. September 2014 400 more beds will be added. This is 1000 beds total.

-          In September 2013, Brescia College added 300 beds.

-          Total beds added as of September 2014: 1300

-          Delaware Hall will be closed from September 2014 to September 2015 for upgrades, which provides 450 beds

-          First year enrollment at Western university has increased from 4350 to 4900 in the last few years.

-          This does not include the focus on international students, where Western does not provide any statistics.

-          Total Extra Beds Needed as of September 2014: 1000 (and this is not including official statistics on the push for international students.

So as you can see here, Western (and myself) suggest that there will not be any ripple effects into the local market. Although there are private buildings going up, Western is the recruiting machine that brings the students to the city and keeps them here for a few years. For this, all Landlords should be grateful. If Landlords subscribe to the logic of Western is always building to suck up the entire student rental market, I don’t believe that and the statistics show this. Western is building for its needs and after first year Landlords should be able to find a group of tenants and hold onto them for a few years.

Here are a few quick statistics from Western Off Campus Housing:

2013 AVERAGE RENTAL PRICES

Average rental prices, as of May 2013, based on the Off-Campus Housing listings:

Bachelor Apartment $550 (inclusive)

One-bedroom Apartment $699 + utilities

Two-bedroom Apartment $830 + utilities

Three-bedroom Apartment $1284 + utilities

Room $434 inclusive

Share House/Apt. $443/489 + utilities

A lot of these numbers are derived from Western’s Off Campus Housing Website prices which are not exactly accurate because some of the houses don’t rent, and some of the houses rent for a negotiated price. However, I do believe that these numbers are roughly what Landlord’s should be looking for in regards to rent for this year depending on their property, bedrooms, condition, location, etc.

How To Avoid the “Headache” That Comes Along With Students In Your Rental Property

12/10/2013

 
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The reason why many Fanshawe College Landlords and Western University Landlords burn out and get out of the industry is because of what is known as the “headache.” It is not very difficult for owners to maintain the property, to upgrade their property when needed, and maintain the exterior of the home.  Core Property Management and Rentals deals with the “headache” for our property management clients in London, Ontario. If you are new to this business, or you want to avoid “the headache” from your student rental tenants, than you must consider the following:

1.       Be Upfront With Your Student Tenants at Fanshawe and Western

If you are from out of town, let them know that. That way they will not expect you within 10 minutes if there is no hot water running. When sitting the tenants down to sign the lease, go through each line out loud and give examples of you operate. For example, if all the light bulbs work and the lease states if any bulbs go out they have to replace them, then they call you for more bulbs you need to remind them of this conversation. Being upfront and transparent goes a long way

2.       Try To Have You Student Tenants Pay Their Own Utilities

If the student rental tenants are paying their own utilities, you have three less things to worry about: London Hydro bill, Union Gas bill, and probably a hot water rental. With the tenants paying the utilities, they will be much more responsible with the bills and with your property in general taking care of it because they are obligated to care more than the “all you can eat buffet” which is renting all inclusive.

3.       Sign Joint Leases With Groups of Tenants

Signing groups of tenants to rent your entire property is the best way to go about renting your property because you will get the London, ON Landlord License, you will sign on a group of friends who know each other, and the tenants will be jointly liable to pay the full amount of rent. When tenants are jointly liable and obligated to pay the rent, there is a much greater chance of none of your student rental cheques bouncing.

4.       Buy a Townhouse to Rent

When purchasing a student rental property, some of the “headache” comes from cutting the grass, cutting branches, raking leaves, cleaning snow, changing windows/doors, replacing the roof, etc. which can all be taken care of if you pay a monthly condo fee and buy a townhouse to rent to students to Fanshawe and Western University students.

5.       Hire a Property Management Company That Has Experience in Managing Western University and Fanshawe College Properties

To make most of your headaches going away, sometimes the only way is to outsource it to a local, London Ontario based company that has a rich history in providing Landlords when a great service. Some Landlords of student rental properties don’t appreciate text messages at 9 PM on a Sunday evening asking “what is the postal code of the house?” from their tenants. The little things definitely add up, and if you haven’t utilized a combination of the above recommendations to minimize your headaches, you are better off hiring a company to manage and rent your property to local Western and Fanshawe students.



LUXE LIKE STUDENT RENTAL PROPERTIES IN LONDON, ONTARIO HAVE SOME EXCLUSIVE COMPETITION AT WESTERN UNIVERSTY: BUT IS IT WORTH IT? 

11/29/2013

 
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Luxe London is a company who is building a large $55 million dollar, 19 floors, fully furnished student focused apartment building according to the London Free Press. As you can imagine, this student apartment building will have all the bells and whistles: parking, free laundry, 2/3/4 bedroom units, a gym, sauna, movie theatre, and study rooms, etc. etc. There is no stone left unturned here, and this is reflected in the pricing. Looking a bit deeper, we wanted to help students figure out if this is a good value for their rental dollar. Our preliminary research suggests that Lux London:

-          Has 2 bedroom apartments going for $795/person/month = $1590 + utilities!

-          Has 3 and 4 bedroom units for $595/person/month plus utilities

-          Penthouse suites are $1000, but we don’t know how many bedrooms they have yet.

These prices set out by Lux London are smashing previous highs that we have seen in the rental market. Lux London is the new Varsity Commons (student buildings in downtown London) and they are charging tenants an arm and a leg for high end accommodation, location and amenities. For a two bedroom apartment $1590 with utilities and internet/cable quickly turns into $1800/month, which is $900 in rent/person. Yes there are a number of advantages to living in a new, modern building, and although I do believe the Lux London will fill up fast, the rent is very high. In my opinion they are able to charge this much because they do not have any competition in this top tier of the market: they have created their own category.

Should your average student rent from here? I don’t believe your average student can afford to live here and pay for things like tuition and books. Your average bedroom at Western rents for $400-$550 with utilities on a 12 month lease, usually with 4 or 5 tenants. Obviously in apartments the price would go up, but to almost pay $900 in accommodations for a two bedroom apartment every month is very steep for your average student. If you want the prestige of living in this building, then you need to hurry and get to renting it out because once this is full the Landlords in the region will be back in business.

Many Landlords in the area have asked me if this building will affect their opportunity to rent next year, and the short answer is no. One cannot compare a $55 million dollar new building to a single family residential student rental property. However, most Landlords own 5 bedroom homes, and Lux London does not directly compete with group of 5 rentals. Therefore, there will still be a large group of first year students who are looking for a large house close to campus that accommodates 5 tenants on a 12 month lease. The selling point on these properties now is very simple: do you want to pay $500/month and have everything you need, or roughly $900/month and have everything you want? For most students, the answer is very clear.


How and When Do I Find the Best Student Tenants AT FANSHAWE COLLEGE AND WESTERN UNIVERSITY IN LONDON, ON?

11/28/2013

 
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Students at Western University or Fanshawe College in London, Ontario are primarily on 12 month leases that either begins in May (Western University) or September (Fanshawe College). There is some overlap, and there are such things at 4 or 8 month leases, but usually it’s 12 months and these leases are joint leases if living with others or single leases if living by themselves. The real question for current student landlords in London is how and when is one supposed to find the best tenants?

The “when to find the best student tenants” is complex. The golden rule here is that you must respect the rights of your current tenants. If you are a good landlord, and your tenants are happy with your product and your service, and have more years of education in front of them, then they will not want to leave from their current accommodation. The golden rule is you must ask your tenants (very early) whether or not they are leaning towards staying or leaving beyond their lease. If you have a good relationship with your tenants, they will understand and respect you for coming to them first and specifically asking about everyone’s needs, wants and if they want to stay on with their accommodation.  In London, this conversation is beginning informally sooner and sooner every year. We suggest that researching out to the students at the beginning of December is a very good idea. This may be an email, a knock at the door, and maybe delivering a gift certificate to all of the tenants as well. At this point, they won’t have an exact answer for you (and that’s usually not what a Landlord wants, they usually want to feel out the tenants). At that point, when they go back home to speak with their parents and friends, they usually come back (and school is much less busy) and are ready to give you an answer. If everything goes to plan, everyone will either sign on or let’s say 3/5 want to stay on but they are willing to sign and bring on two more students that are friends to fill up the house for the next year of leasing. Obviously, if the tenants want to leave and give you the notice that they will be leaving, and allow you to show the house because of that good relationship that you have with them, then you start advertising in December and start showing/advertising in January until it is rented. 

How to find the best students to rent out your property in London Ontario?That’s simple. As stated earlier, your current tenants are your best resource in regards to keeping your property fully rented for the next academic year. A property owner who is experienced understands that by late December, or early January advertisements and showings are a must around Fanshawe College and Western University. The best way to find brand new tenants (singles or groups) is by hiring a professional to do the job. There are several rental and management companies in London (Exclusive, Horizon, JDN, Paige, EZStudentRentals, etc.) and most Landlords in the city have hired several of these companies to rent out their properties. Our business is focused on finding responsive Landlords, with a quality product, that give us the tools to rent out (and manage) their properties. We hand pick the Landlords that we work with and do not take on any and all properties. Every year, 100% of our Landlords continue to use our service with renting out their rental unit, which is a testament to our hard work and effort making a small group of Landlords in London rent to the best quality students, at top of the market rent rates, with the lease amount of headaches and bounced cheques. 

FANSHAWE AND WESTERN School NOW IN SESSION and Your  STUDENT Rental PROPERTY is Empty. What Do You Do?

11/28/2013

 
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Around Western University and Fanshawe College campuses, there are several student rental homes. The supplies of these homes are increasing year over year, and it is getting more difficult for Landlords to successfully rent out there houses. Sometimes, Landlords (like yourself) are not so lucky and cannot find tenants on a full year lease for May 1 or September 1 (depending when your cycle of renting begins). So, what are your choices at this point?

1.       Double down on marketing efforts – minimal clean up (cheap option)

2.       Start renovating property and cross your fingers (expensive option – long term value)

3.       Sell property (property will be undervalued due to the house not being rented)

A.      Double Down on Marketing Efforts and Minimal Clean Up

This option is what most Landlords prefer. They usually think they can rent out their houses on their own. Sometimes this doesn’t work out, and they scramble at the last minute to contact a student property rental service company in London, ON like us. Unfortunately, we usually end up going into these properties and realizing they are in poor condition, need a lot of cleaning and also to be marketed properly. If Landlords oblige to make the necessary repairs, cleaning, and other small upgrades the Landlord may have luck with a rental service company who can promote a good product that prospective tenants will sign a lease on right before school begins.

B.      Start Renovating Your Property and Crossing Your Fingers

There are several reasons why student rental properties in London do not rent out (bad location, price too high, house is in disrepair, no marketing, etc.) but the #1 reason we have found is that the house needs to be upgraded. Routinely, many of the student rental properties need regular maintenance (service furnace, AC, upgrade roof, etc.) alongsidecosmetic upgrades. The largest improvements you can make in your rental property are paint and flooring, and next are kitchens and bathrooms in regards to renting out your house. The landlord may lose money in the short term (i.e. September) but if they take a few weeks to renovate there unit, and have enough burn through funds to pay the bills until January or May, the house is sure to rent out if it is marketed properly.

C.      Sell Property

This option is for those Landlords who no longer want to be in this business anymore, who do not have the capital to invest money in the house, nor the funds to pay the bills for an extended period of time for the rent to kick in again. These landlords usually lose money on the sale price of their house because if it didn’t rent out before school started, as stated early, it probably needs money for cosmetic upgrades. If a student rental property goes up for sale right after the school year has started, needs money to bring it back up to par with other rentals, and is currently vacant, this will drive the price down. An opportunistic investor can apply the tip above (start renovating your property and cross your fingers) to buy a house, fix it up, hold onto it, and hire a company to get a lease that provides great value and top dollar out of your house. 

If you are a Landlord who needs advice on purchasing a student rental, renting a student rental in London, Ontario or wants to know how much rent you can get out of your current rental, contact us. 

UWO – WESTERN UNIVERSITY RENTAL MARKET 2013

11/28/2013

 
Landlords have emerged from London, Ontario and from larger cities such as Toronto to invest in student rental housing at Western University. For some local Landlord’s, it’s a buy and hold strategy: hold on to the property, make sure it’s updated frequently, always rented, and one day the house will be paid off. Out of town Landlords usually get involved via their child who attends UWO, and buys a house for their friends to live in for a few years and then turns around and sells it after a few years for a profit. 

                 Traction at UWO Western University Rental Market

The single bedroom, apartments, 3 bedroom, 4 and even 6 bedroom units have been renting very quickly and easily at Western this year. The five bedroom student rental properties at Western have seen a dip this year in renting. They are more difficult to rent, and they are not fetching the prices they were in 2008-2009. Landlords and investors should be aware of this when buying and renting properties. The reason for this has been less movement among current students living in 5 bedroom properties, the location of these properties, and since they have been rented for 3 or 4 years, these units need to be updated on the inside. These factors have led to the decline in these units renting out, and not necessarily the new development found around the University. 

        How Do I Make Sure My Student Rental is Always Rented?

Landlords need to continuously update, upgrade, and add services to their student rental properties that create a great property, achieves top dollar rent from prospective student tenants, and attracts good tenants to avoid such things as damage in your UWO Western student rental property. Using arental service that specializes and student rental properties at Western University will also help you to achieve your goal. 

    Author

    Core Property Rentals and Management's Advice on Student Rental Properties at Fanshawe College and Western University in London, Ontario, Canada.

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