This spring, students at Colorado State University are facing a drastically changed rental housing market from recent years. Most of the "Move in Specials" are gone. It's harder to find a landlord who will accept a pet. And the supply of available apartments, condos and rental houses isn't what it was just a year ago.
In fact, the Northern Colorado Business Journal recently reported that the Fort Collins apartment vacancy rate fell to 4.2% (5% is considered normal) and unlike most other areas of Colorado, the median monthly rent in Fort Collins rose from $821 a year ago to $872 currently.
Three major factors in the local market are driving this trend.
First, there has been a lack of new construction of apartments, condos and homes due to the unavailability of construction loans. New construction starts are off 70% from the peak building years in the mid-2000's and not are expected to begin a recovery until 2012. This leaves Fort Collins with a large deficit of new rentals.
Second, more families have had to turn to renting as they lost their homes to foreclosure or short sales. Unfortunately, a number of families facing the financial hardship of losing their home, also experience a family breakup which creates the need for two rental properties to replace the one home they had.
Third, the population of Fort Collins is continuing to grow from the outside. Colorado State University targeted 25,000 as the number of full time students it wanted to have on the Fort Collins campus. Now, with the recession causing people to go back to school in larger numbers and with record numbers of freshman applications, CSU is looking at nearly 27,000 students to serve and forecasting as many as 30,000 students in the next few years.
All those student need a place to live and neither Colorado State University nor the City of Fort Collins currently has a plan in place to house that many newcomers. As a result, rents for students this spring have jumped from the $300-$400 per bedroom range last year to $400-$500 per bedroom and rising.
At the new rent levels, the market for buying a house or condo for a CSU student to share and rent out bedrooms to friends is making sense again. Over the long term in Fort Collins, it has been one of the few ways to make the costs of college less painful.
Showing posts with label college condominiums. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college condominiums. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Friday, May 8, 2009
$8000 Housing Tax Credit for Students?
In an act of unusual clarity, the IRS has listed on its web site, specific scenarios where the $8000 first time home buyer tax credit may be claimed. One qualifying scenario(S2) fits to a tee the situation of a college student and parents buying a house or condo for the student to live in during school. It clearly states that the parents do not qualify for the tax credit but if the student is a first time buyer, he or she would qualify to claim the $8000 tax credit.
"But wait", you say, "my daughter(or son) doesn't earn enough money to use an $8000 tax credit. What good is it?"
Excellent question.
And for the answer, we again turn the the IRS and its website. (They're batting 1.000 today). If the taxpayer does not owe $8000 in taxes, or if he or she has already paid the taxes, then the taxpayer will get the tax credit back as a refund check. Wow! That would make a nice dent in the tuition bill.
The IRS even gives advice as to how the tax credit may be claimed. If a taxpayer has filed an extension for the 2008 tax return, simply claim the credit on the return filed after closing on the house or condo and get the refund in 2009. If the taxpayer has already filed a 2008 return, an amended 2008 return can be filed right after closing and the refund will be sent shortly. The taxpayer may also wait and claim the tax credit on the 2009 tax return and get the refund in 2010.
This tax credit is only good for first time home purchases until December 1, 2009 and the first time buyer must keep the house or condo for 3 years as his or her primary residence or the tax credit would have to be repaid.
New information on the IRS website affirms that the first time buyer claiming the $8000 tax credit does not have to be the one making the payments on the mortgage loan, he or she just needs to be using the property as the primary residence.
Here are links to the IRS information.
For qualifying scenarios
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=206294,00.html
For how to claim the Tax Credit
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204671,00.html
This is such a great deal for college student housing that families should take a close look to see if it doesn't make sense to own a place for their college students instead of renting for 3 or 4 years.
"But wait", you say, "my daughter(or son) doesn't earn enough money to use an $8000 tax credit. What good is it?"
Excellent question.
And for the answer, we again turn the the IRS and its website. (They're batting 1.000 today). If the taxpayer does not owe $8000 in taxes, or if he or she has already paid the taxes, then the taxpayer will get the tax credit back as a refund check. Wow! That would make a nice dent in the tuition bill.
The IRS even gives advice as to how the tax credit may be claimed. If a taxpayer has filed an extension for the 2008 tax return, simply claim the credit on the return filed after closing on the house or condo and get the refund in 2009. If the taxpayer has already filed a 2008 return, an amended 2008 return can be filed right after closing and the refund will be sent shortly. The taxpayer may also wait and claim the tax credit on the 2009 tax return and get the refund in 2010.
This tax credit is only good for first time home purchases until December 1, 2009 and the first time buyer must keep the house or condo for 3 years as his or her primary residence or the tax credit would have to be repaid.
New information on the IRS website affirms that the first time buyer claiming the $8000 tax credit does not have to be the one making the payments on the mortgage loan, he or she just needs to be using the property as the primary residence.
Here are links to the IRS information.
For qualifying scenarios
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=206294,00.html
For how to claim the Tax Credit
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204671,00.html
This is such a great deal for college student housing that families should take a close look to see if it doesn't make sense to own a place for their college students instead of renting for 3 or 4 years.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Checking out the HOA
When you buy a college student condo or a town home, you should check out the Home Owners' Association(HOA) that runs and maintains the community. You'll want to know about the financial health of the association, what the Rules, Declarations, and Bylaws say, and if there are any critical issues facing the HOA that might affect you as a new owner.
Once you make a written offer on a condo or town home in Colorado, you are usually provided this information by the seller, through the agent representing you. In the state approved Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate, the buyer is given a certain amount of time to review these documents and cancel the sale if they contain unacceptable restrictions. You can, however get a head start on this process and gather some of this information before deciding which condo or town home you're interested in.
Many property management firms maintain web sites that give this type of information on the communities that they manage. This is how that looks on one of our local property management firm's site.
As you can see, this management company makes it easy to preview the important documents before you decide if a particular condo or town home community is right for you. You might find that your 70 lb. black lab won't meet the association's 25 lb. pet restriction, no matter what kind of a diet you put him on!
Another, less official resource, is the Neighborhood Link web site that some communities post to let their neighbors and potential homeowners in their area in on what's happening. These sites are usually posted by the neighborhood's computer/internet guru who is sometimes authorized by the HOA board of directors and sometimes not. If there is a Neighborhood Link site for the condo/town home community you are interested in, it can give you a more personal look into what is happening in that neighborhood. I have linked to one such page here:
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/ftcollins/hillpond/
These resources can give you more details about the community than just picking a random neighbor or two to talk with, but thats not a bad option either.
Once you make a written offer on a condo or town home in Colorado, you are usually provided this information by the seller, through the agent representing you. In the state approved Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate, the buyer is given a certain amount of time to review these documents and cancel the sale if they contain unacceptable restrictions. You can, however get a head start on this process and gather some of this information before deciding which condo or town home you're interested in.
Many property management firms maintain web sites that give this type of information on the communities that they manage. This is how that looks on one of our local property management firm's site.
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Another, less official resource, is the Neighborhood Link web site that some communities post to let their neighbors and potential homeowners in their area in on what's happening. These sites are usually posted by the neighborhood's computer/internet guru who is sometimes authorized by the HOA board of directors and sometimes not. If there is a Neighborhood Link site for the condo/town home community you are interested in, it can give you a more personal look into what is happening in that neighborhood. I have linked to one such page here:
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/ftcollins/hillpond/
These resources can give you more details about the community than just picking a random neighbor or two to talk with, but thats not a bad option either.
Friday, January 30, 2009
What about HOA dues?
Every condo and town home comes with a Home Owner's Association(HOA) that has the responsibility to care for certain aspects of the development. The dues that an HOA charges the condo or town home owners, pay for the expenses that are shared.
Most HOAs cover expenses for these items:
Additional items(if applicable) that a few HOAs also cover:
In most cases, HOAs don't like to raise monthly dues very much and we just do not see dramatic jumps in dues. Typical increases range from $5 to 15 per month and usually do not happen every year. HOA boards work very hard to hold their costs down to avoid increases because the board members have to pay the increases, too.
We'll talk about the operations and rules of typical college condo home owner associations in the next few posts, to answer more questions that frequently get asked when considering such an investment.
Most HOAs cover expenses for these items:
- Monthly water, sewer and trash bills
- Lawn care & sprinkler system maintenance
- Exterior maintenance on the buildings and parking areas
- Snow removal
- Fire and liability insurance on the buildings
- Professional management of the association
Additional items(if applicable) that a few HOAs also cover:
- Pool and/or clubhouse maintenance
- Tennis courts
- Cable TV and/or high speed internet
- Heating cost of individual units
In most cases, HOAs don't like to raise monthly dues very much and we just do not see dramatic jumps in dues. Typical increases range from $5 to 15 per month and usually do not happen every year. HOA boards work very hard to hold their costs down to avoid increases because the board members have to pay the increases, too.
We'll talk about the operations and rules of typical college condo home owner associations in the next few posts, to answer more questions that frequently get asked when considering such an investment.
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