Charlottesville (real estate, apartment, to rent)

[Marcia_M]

My son is a grad student at the Univ of VA and I was wondering whether or not it would be reasonable/worthwhile to look for a small house or condo to buy (will have to get a mortgage) to rent back to him. Anyone else doing this? Or any thoughts on pros and cons?

Thanks!

[MaryBB]

A coworkers daughter just started UVA this summer. They are renting a house (I think 1100). From what my coworker said uninhabitable dumps are 250K. Real estate has soared in C'ville, so you might make money if it continues and if you can afford the price now. But then again with the so called bubble possibly bursting you might not...

BUT another good point is that there are lots of tech sites growing up there that won't be going away so maybe prices will continue to rise.

[Marcia_M]

Thanks, Mary. I just hate the thought of $10,000/year rent for 5-6 years and nothing to show for it. We haven't visited the area yet, but I've browsed a few real estate sites. I see that places are pricey. We wanted him to stay in the dorm the first year until he got a feel for the best areas to rent, but the univ. housing was less than acceptable to him. A 7x9 bedroom plus shared living space/bath with 5 other students. So he's apartment hunting today.
Marcia

[denise38]

I worked at UVA near central grounds for several years. And I know for a fact there are lots of parents that purchase homes for their children while they are enrolled in school, they usually rent out room and that is what can either pay the morgage or put cash iny our childs pocket while they are there. You can either sell it to another family whose child is starting their first year of school, or you can keep it and continue to rent to student as a investment. I have heard that it works out great for lots of families.

[VaNative]

Originally Posted by denise38

I worked at UVA near central grounds for several years. And I know for a fact there are lots of parents that purchase homes for their children while they are enrolled in school, they usually rent out room and that is what can either pay the morgage or put cash iny our childs pocket while they are there. You can either sell it to another family whose child is starting their first year of school, or you can keep it and continue to rent to student as a investment. I have heard that it works out great for lots of families.

That's exactly how I sold my townhouse in Sherwood Manor in 2004 and allowed me to move to Orlando! I think they sold the house once the kids were out of school. I heard they made a nice profit since housing prices kept going up.

[Jesco White]

Real Estate WAS booming in Charlottesville, and now there's a huge amount of homes on the market whose sellers are just sitting on because they can't accept the true current value as fact. That being said, Cville's real estate prices are still much higher than much of America, and it's my opinion that the last decent time to purchase a property for the purpose of saving rent money over the 4 year term would have been in the mid 90s at the latest. Charlottesville doesn't really have any good deals, and you have to leave the surrounding county before things become affordable (in relative terms). Much of the town's lower income workforce live in counties outside of Albemarle.


Oops, just saw this post was five years old. Sure hope the OP didn't take the bait and buy that home in 2006, Do'h!