When an owner has an apartment property near the campus of a University, there are particular problems. The competitive situation dictates that leases be offered for one semester of nine and a half months. A twelve-month lease for students is virtually unheard of. That means there are lots of vacancies as soon as final exams have ended. (This does not apply to a few University communities where there is always an apartment shortage. In those few places, the student must lease for 12 months or have no lodging.)
There are ways that might help turn the months of vacancies into extra rental income.
First, during graduation week, the vacant apartments are rented to parents, by the management company, on 3-day or 5-day leases. The parents like being closer to the activities that attracted them to the campus than they would be in outlying motels.
Second, summer students taking courses at the university welcome the chance to rent an apartment on a week-to-week basis. This is particularly true of students and employees from other colleges who don’t have the time to search out living arrangements for, say, a six-week summer course.