Ever so humble

Students buy, rent homes near SUU

By MARC DOTSON
UNIVERSITY JOURNAL

Although irresponsible students and landlords may serve to decrease the value of some homes, real estate around campus continues to retain or even increase in value, leading more students to buy nearby homes.
The surrounding land and house values are going up because of the growth of SUU, said Leeon Jeffs, a student realtor and a senior marketing major from Castle Dale.
“There is possibly a trend of landlords not keeping up their homes,” Jeffs said. “However, there are three specific places in town where houses are really appreciating (in value) right now: up on Leigh Hill, in Fiddler’s Canyon and right around the campus.”
“A lot of students we deal with are moving away from the dorms to find homes and apartments to rent,” said Sonya Stauffer, owner and agent at Re/Max Professionals.
“If they are looking for a rental, it’s a toss up between a house or an apartment for choice,” she said. “Most prefer a home if they can find one.”
Mark Barton, vice president for university advancement, said there are approximately 5,595 students who live in off-campus housing.
“Some landlords or homeowners don’t put a lot of money into their rentals,” Stauffer said. “They provide minimal maintenance, if any in some cases.”
Despite this, houses around SUU are holding their value, Stauffer said.
At the same time, she added, “Resale is more difficult if proper maintenance is not provided.”
Jeffs said that, even if a home is losing value, it is likely appreciating at a far faster rate around campus.
Students — often married couples — generally seek smaller homes, although there is a developing trend toward students becoming their own landlords, Jeffs said.
“It’s getting popular for a lot of students to buy homes and then just rent them out to their friends,” Jeffs said. “A lot of people are doing that.”
Students can spend between $20,000 and $25,000 in rent after four or five years at SUU, Jeffs said.
“If they bought a house and put that to a mortgage the whole time and rent it out to friends they could walk away with a lot of money outof college,” he said.
Stauffer said students on occasion come in looking for a real estate investment while at school.
“They look for multi-family, more than one unit, home or homes that have several bedrooms to rent out,” she said.
Chris Nilsson, a business graduate from Ephraim, rented out to friends last year.
“It’s not smart to mix friends with business,” he said. “We figured that out.”
Problems with tenants not paying rent on time and not cleaning up after themselves made things difficult, Nilsson said.
“I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings because I was friends with them all,” said Nilsson. “It’s kind of hard to be the strict, mean landlord.”
There are a few big names among small investors who purchase a house to rent, Jeffs said.
Many landlords leave the job of managing in the hands of others, generally realtors.
Certain standards are similar for most tenants no matter who serves as landlord.
David Louthan, a senior engineering technology major from Moab, is also a landlord.

Louthan said his tenant requirements include no pets, guns, smoking, drinking or overnight guests.
Adam Law, a landlord and freshman psychology major from Mesquite, Nev., owns a newly remodeled house.
He said he is specific with tenants about keeping the home clean and guarding his investment.
Meanwhile, students who purchase homes to repair themselves reverse the trend in individual student homes going down in value, Jeffs said.
Sometimes, students don’t live up to the responsibilities of owning homes, and landlords face a variety of problems, thanks to tenants.
Stormy Bulloch, office manager and realtor at Century 21, said paying rent on time seems to be a frequent difficulty for many student tenants.
“Late rent is the biggest (problem),” Nilsson said.
Students often complain about not getting deposits back, Stauffer said.
“A few of the reasons students don’t get their deposit back are they don’t read their contracts, they don’t leave a forwarding address and they don’t do a good job cleaning their apartment or house,” she said.
There are problems with alcohol, excessive posters, uncleanliness and “those things of the partying nature,” Stauffer said.
John Dalton, who owns several properties in Cedar City, said he has had problems with illegal drugs, alcohol, theft, destruction, trespassing and immorality.
“We can’t legislate morals,” he said, “but no overnight guests is a part of the contract.”
Dalton also said he has had problems with tenants who are thoughtless about other people’s parking rights.
“Most kids are really good,” he said, “but there are a lot who show a disregard for property.”