6 Deals to Offer Student Residents

By Christine Ascher on September 12, 2017

Most college students have a variety of options to choose from when it comes to their housing. In addition to competing with other apartment buildings in the area, you’ll also be competing with the campus housing options.

As most college students are very money-conscious, the most effective way to appeal to them is by offering an array of deals to help them save money when living off-campus. When you’re coming up with rent agreements, consider some of the following ways that you can make your building financially-friendly to students, and thereby hopefully bring more residents in.

Image via https://www.pexels.com

1. Rent cuts

The most obvious way to save students some money is by offering a reduced rate for their rent, whether for a month or for the entire duration of their lease. For instance, offer a reduction for anyone who signs their lease before a certain date. This will encourage students to lease with you early, and will also probably bring in some additional residents compared to what you would normally have, as some students will be searching for those deals.

If you can’t afford to reduce the rate of rent for a large number of students, try offering the deal instead to the first five students who sign their leases. You’ll generate some interest and will probably have more students commit to living in your property early, even if they don’t end up receiving the benefit.

You can also offer a rent cut for anyone who brings in a new resident. Students tend to choose their housing based on what they’ve heard about different properties from their peers, so it’ll be to your benefit if you take advantage of this. Your residents are going to be your greatest source of free advertising, and if you provide them with some incentive to use their influence, you can only benefit from it.

2. Reduce the deposit

Another way that you can help students save is by offering to lower the amount required for their security deposit when they first sign their lease. One way to do so is by allowing roommates to sign joint leases, so that they only have to pay one security deposit between the two of them. This will allow them to split the cost by half, without you having to forfeit the assurance of having that deposit.

You could also try decreasing the required deposit for students with good credit scores or who you can otherwise expect to be reliable.

3. Free internet/cable

Offering free Wi-Fi and cable to students is a deal that they’ll definitely appreciate. Students in particular need to have Wi-Fi in their apartment for school, so you’ll be saving them a lot of money — not to mention the time and trouble of setting the wireless account up themselves. Though cable is not necessarily as much of an essential, most college students will want it nonetheless.

Taking care of these expenses means one less cost for them to worry about, and will definitely make your building more appealing than any competitors who require their residents to pay for them on their own.

4. Parking discounts

Parking is a major expense at a lot of apartment buildings and can really add up over the course of 12 months. Offer a discounted rate on parking fees if students sign their lease before a certain date. To drum up some excitement among current residents, offer to host a raffle every so often where the winner wins a free month of parking.

Anything you can do to lower the cost of parking will be greatly appreciated by students, especially since those who have cars also have the added expense of car payments and insurance costs.

5. Furniture deals

Renting an unfurnished apartment is generally an unpopular option for college students, so helping them out with furniture and its cost can go a long way. Using rental furniture in your apartments is a great option, as you can update the pieces every so often as needed. Though typically the cost of rented furniture would be included in a resident’s lease, you can give them a great deal by covering it — then they won’t have to worry about the inconvenience of furnishing the apartment themselves or the cost.

If you can’t afford to cover the entire cost of rental furniture, just offering a discounted rate to students will make a big difference — especially because apartment buildings in the same area are likely to rent from the same place, and students can therefore easily compare prices to see who will give them a better deal.

6. Utility cuts

Utilities can be a major monthly expense, and they’re something that a lot of students probably aren’t accustomed to budgeting for. Covering certain costs, even just for a limited time, will likely make you very popular among college residents. Whether you cover a portion of a resident’s overall utility expenses or take charge of one specific area, you’ll have the potential to save your residents a lot of money in the long run, which is definitely something that they’ll take into account when they’re deciding where to live.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Get Student Housing News Monthly

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format