Purchasing property now in Houston is a gamble. You have got to have all the right cards. These include credit, capital, and long term security. Sure, these may sound obvious, but in today's market, home sellers and the banks issuing loans are looking closely at potential investors. Real Estate is still a commodity. People are just taking a higher level of morality and opportunism to it. If you are in the market to buy, be sure to work with a trusted real estate professional. Then, if all the cards are right, you can bet on a big win.
By 2015, more than 20 million Gen Yers are projected to be in college, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. That's a 10 percent increase from 2008. 'We'll have a higher pool of potential clients over the next eight years,' says David Adelman, CEO of Philadelphia- based Campus Apartments, a student housing builder and owner with 21,000 beds. 'For the next eight years, they will stay pretty flat but at an elevated level.'
These promising numbers, along with the growth of firms such as Campus Apartments, are a big reason why lenders started favoring student housing around 2000. Before then, they regarded the sector more as a mom-andpop- oriented, cyclical business, and had little interest in lending their dollars.
'Student housing became the flavor of the month in the early 2000's,' says Dan Bernstein, chief information officer of Campus Apartments. 'It has become more professionalized. Lenders began to say this was a good class, and a lot of institutions [now] invest in the student housing sector.'
The current economic falloff , however, has given lenders reason for pause. But they still seem to have faith in student properties, despite deal flow slowing to a crawl. 'There's financing out there with Fannie and Freddie,' Bernstein says. 'Whether it's on the permanent side or construction side, lenders like student housing but only with good owners and operators, not people who are looking to buy and flip. It's a flight back to the fundamentals.'
At press time, Campus was about to close two deals with Fannie Mae. 'It has been business as usual with the exception of stricter underwriting and less ability to get waivers,' Bernstein says. There have been a few changes at Fannie: debt service has risen from 1.25 percent to 1.30 percent and the agency is basing rental income assumptions on the past 12 months versus a projection of the year ahead.
Fannie and other lenders do have good reason to invest in the student sector. After all, more than 18.5 million Gen Yers will attend school this fall, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. And those numbers are expected to rise. President Obama's budget offers a number of major incentives to increase college enrollment, including making the $2,500 tax credit for college education permanent. 'In good times kids go to school, and in bad times kids go back to school,' says Kimberly Barkwell, president of Atlanta-based Ambling Management Co., a student housing builder and manager with 32,364 units. In fact, the past six recessions have all seen an increase in college enrollment, according to Houston-based Community Development Strategies Market Research.
So there you have it, no matter if you are investing in commercial or residential real estate, Houston has many opportunities.
About the Author:
Michael Russell writes about a variety of subjects. This article discusses Houston real estate. For more information, visit the Real Estate Book.
