buying a student accomodation unit

Ravima said:
Yes, my understanding is that the tax break is for 10 years, (these are now as rare as hens teeth!) and that they can be sold on the open market at any stage. JOESOD seems to be saying that it cannot be sold other than to 'investors who wish to buy in later'. This is what I do not understand.
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I presume what Joe Sod means is they can only be sold to investors for student accommodation and not for open residential lettings.
 
Ravima said:
Yes, my understanding is that the tax break is for 10 years, (these are now as rare as hens teeth!) and that they can be sold on the open market at any stage. JOESOD seems to be saying that it cannot be sold other than to 'investors who wish to buy in later'. This is what I do not understand.
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What I mean is they can only be used for student accomodation, you cannot live in it yourself and it cannot be rented to non students, therefore only investors with the money ready to invest can buy them. It would be good if someone that actually owns one now could add to the discussion, I think there are 190 of them in total
 
joe sod said:
my impression is that the refurbishment is done on the whole building every so often, but that if one appartment gets thrashed or has really bad students that break everthing in a particular appartment, the management company will pay for that. The only thing is there seems to be a few of them for sale now so they are not exactly snapped up immediately, you have to be a cash buyer. Therefore I think you need to be prepared to lock up your money for a long time, on the other hand though you are only locking away 60K not 250K etc that you would be by buying a conventional house.
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You get the 'impression' - that's not good enough !

I looked into one of these a few years ago in Limerick I think it was. And I found out there was a problem because travellers had either bought a load of them or moved in. Something like that.

Also I figured out one would be at the mercy of the management company.

And the fact that so many of them were for sale made me think twice. I think they were then put on Allsopps. And auctions (I make no comment on Allsops) are notorious for a way to get rid of problem properties.

Why will a bank not lend on these properties - is it the general no apartment rule - or something else. You need to know this.
 
thanks for that input bronte, How did travellers move in surely the management company would have stopped that, especially if students were living there aswell, I thought that would be very serious and could not be ignored. But I am grateful for the insight and information. I have yet to hear a positive experience so I think I will not be investing, I think a normal appartment combined with a management company to do the day to day stuff would be a better option. Does anyone have recommendations on management companies to manage appartments
 
There's no holy grail Joe sod. An estate where apartments are sold very quickly and where apartments come up rarely are signs of well managed places, as is the general look of the place.
 
This an interesting discussion, but obvious, simple advice is applicable here.
The OP needs to know more about this specific apartment before buying,

What is the student accomodation situation in Waterford. What rents do people pay for equivalent apartments ?
Is there are shortage of accomodation for students. Some towns with ITs have, some dont.

Do apartments in this block get rented out each year

Waht is the average annual costs, including maintenance, and replacement of furniture.
Is the block is a good state, will it need repairs, so the MO have a sinking fund etc etc.
 
Dan Murray said:
Hi Joe Sod,

Is it possible for you to send a link to what you have in mind? The quoted net yield of 6.67% seems very attractive - is it genuinely attainable year or year?

Also, does anyone know of a decent research paper of the merits of different types of property ownership for the Irish investor?
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I would bite your arm off for 6.7%. But I suspect continual repairs where students are not chased for the cost, would half your yield.
 
SirMille said:
I would bite your arm off for 6.7%. But I suspect continual repairs where students are not chased for the cost, would half your yield.
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From my experience this is not really fair to students. They are certainly more untidy than other tenants but I have never suffered any real damage beyond a few broken glasses etc.

In any case you should hold a deposit, to cover any repairs that are required.
 
Bronte said:
An estate where apartments are sold very quickly and where apartments come up rarely are signs of well managed places, as is the general look of the place.
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I have been looking into these for a few weeks. As it's 18 months since last poster I thought I would resurrect this thread to see if people have any further thoughts. From my thinking Bronte's post is spot on. I think as far as student complexes are concerned well managed complexes that are full year on year should about 15 years down the line since most of these were constructed surely merit some consideration or am I mistaken ?
 
There's one block of them I personally know of in Galway, it services students attending the RTC. Had been well run for a few years but quite a few of the apartments were sold which didn't qualify for the tax allowance and everyone and anyone stayed in them. They're not hugely expensive to buy now, but I would have thought the tax allowances have run out at this stage. Ask yourself the question, what happens then?
 
Daddy Ireland said:
True but equally there appears to be several very well managed developments 15 years on..
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Im thinking of buying one of these in Parchment Square in Cork next to CIT/Munster Technological University. Net rental income is E11,400 P/A after management fee which is E3700. Management company looks after everything so its hands off. This is on campus accommodation 3 minute walk to college and has been there for over 15 years. Seems to be well managed and I think its a good return. They have 100% occupancy except for last year during Covid.
 
AlfaRomeo said:
Im thinking of buying one of these in Parchment Square in Cork next to CIT/Munster Technological University. Net rental income is E11,400 P/A after management fee which is E3700. Management company looks after everything so its hands off. This is on campus accommodation 3 minute walk to college and has been there for over 15 years. Seems to be well managed and I think its a good return. They have 100% occupancy except for last year during Covid.
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Hi. I am also contemplating buying student accommodation, but in Limerick. Did you do it and if so, how are you getting on?
 
Good afternoon .
MayI ask if these student properties are advertised for sale on Daft ofr elsewhere ?
Thank you .
 
Yes. They come up on DAFT. You can always google the complex with 'for sale' after the name and you might see if there are any currently for sale
 
Is there anyone on this forum who has had either a positive or a negative experience buying and renting out purpose-built student accommodation as an investment (or who knows anyone else who has done so)? There doesn’t seem to be much information out there on this kind of investment apart from promotional websites.
 
You need cash. As others said, tis hard to get a mortgage on them. They appear to be hands off, IF WELL RUN and with full occupancy. Parchment Square and Eden Hall close to UCC and MTU in Cork seem to meet both those conditions as does City Campus in Limerick.
 
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