Doing a bit of research in my local area today on student rentals and I see the majority of them are now renting by the room as opposed to a single lease covering everyone. I see the pros and cons of doing this either way. Doing it by the room certainly is fairer and less risky for parent guarantors, but creates more work for the LL. For those of you with student rentals, is renting by the room an emerging trend you see in your markets?

I think it depends on the area and the building. My son rented houses with 6 other guys with jointly and severely clauses and parent co-signors.

He had a friend renting a place in a newer building at our local university that ran into an issue. 4 friends rented a "suite style" apartment with 4 bedrooms and shared common area. 1 friend dropped out and gave notice. They found a friend to take the spot and management said no, it gets filled with someone from the waitlist (every bedroom had it's own lock). After reading the lease they signed, I had to explain they leased the bedroom only. Each bedroom was rented separately with no guarantee of who you would share the suite with even if requests were put in. The lease explained the waitlist policy but not one of the kids or parents knew what they signed.

One of our local landlords rents a 4 bedroom house. Last year was the first year a group wasn't renting so she got used motel furniture, put locks on the doors and rented it by the room to avoid the possible long term vacancy.

Another very experienced landlord in this area, who has advised me, has a house close to a university that is student housing. She rents it by the room with a list of house rules for common areas. She says young men are generally her preferred tenant - less drama. No parent co-signer, but will use financial aid award as income. In VA, we may accept advance rent as long as we don't spend it until it is due. That is the preferred way to collect rent from students (by semester). Also: rent rooms unfurnished, so it is less desirable for them to move all their furniture and everything out & break the rental agreement (rather than trying to work out their differences). It also helps them want to hold over for the next year when they can leave their furniture in place.

I'm thinking of converting this particular building to student rentals but I need to upgrade it and the issue is timing. I have three residential units in this place and I'm thinking of converting the larger one to student rental to see how it works and then do the others. I have to terminate a m2m tenant, upgrade the place to get ready for renting season for students. Most leases begin in June-August, which means I need to terminate the existing tenant in March, get the improvements done and then hope to get rented between June-August. That will mean at least a 3-5 month vacancy to gear up but the investment may be worth it.

I don't own a student rental, but I do have a college-student daughter who rented this way last year and will be doing it again this year. I like this approach because if her roommate runs into trouble of any kind, it doesn't become a problem for her.

The apartment last year had two different options: a nine-month lease for a higher monthly amount, and a 12-month lease for a lower monthly amount. This year's apartment only offers a 12-month lease. Both years, we signed up in June for a lease that started in August. The students can come in as a group and fill an apartment. If they don't already have roommates in mind, the apartment complex assigns them a roommate. The complex claims to do some kind of compatibility assessment before assigning roommates, but I don't believe there's much to it beyond having an available slot.

Install Two Revolving Doors, Front / Back.

I have mostly one bedroom units in my university town. Love them, because of less drama.

by the room may be a way of skirting "no more than xx unrelated individuals may live in the same household" ... in your municipality has that type ordinance