For parents buying near campus
Four years of rent,
or four years of equity.
New name. Thirty years behind it.
It's a fair question, and it deserves real numbers, not a brochure. Here's how I work through it with families — and when I tell them to keep renting.
The comparison
How I work it out.
Every place is different, so instead of a made-up example, here's the math I'd actually run. Send me an address and I'll fill in each line with your real rate, your real tax bill and how long you plan to keep it.
OPTION A — RENTING
| Rent per bedroom, per month | from the current lease |
| × twelve months | one year |
| × four years, plus the usual annual increases | the four-year total |
| Money spent, nothing to show for it | the number to beat |
OPTION B — BUYING
| Purchase price | list or offer price |
| Down payment + closing costs | cash in at the start |
| Monthly principal, interest, taxes, insurance, HOA | the carrying cost |
| − roommate rent collected | what tenants cover |
| + maintenance, vacancy, management | the real cost of owning |
| − principal paid down over four years | comes back to you at sale |
| − selling costs at exit | agent fees, title, repairs |
| Net cost of four years | compare this to Option A |
This table leaves appreciation out on purpose. Home values here have been basically flat over the past year. The long-run trend is up, and you'll hear that number a lot, but a four-year hold isn't a thirty-year one, and I'm not going to build your decision on a number the market isn't currently giving. If the place gains value while you own it, good — that's a bonus. If the deal only works because you're betting on appreciation, it doesn't work.
Straight answers
When I tell families not to buy.
Your student has under three years left
Closing costs on both ends eat a short hold. Under about three years, renting almost always wins.
A vacant summer would actually hurt
Student rentals turn on the school calendar, not on demand. If two empty months would put you under real strain, this isn't the right buy.
Nobody wants to be a landlord
Someone has to deal with the broken water heater in July. If that's not going to be you, and paying a company to do it eats the margin, the numbers have already decided.
The building is mostly investor-owned
Heavy investor ownership can affect financing and resale. I check that before you fall for a specific unit, not after.
Send me an address.
Any listing in Bryan–College Station, mine or not. I'll run the real numbers and send them back — including the parts that argue against buying.