E147: The Joy of Student Housing Investment with Zachary Feldman

<p><strong>Have you ever thought of investing in a student housing model? Today, Zachary Feldman talks about why investing in the student housing space is a viable endeavor. Zachary is the Vice President of </strong><a href="https://www.aptitudere.com/"><u><strong>Aptitude Development</strong></u></a><strong>, and the CEO and Founder of ENJOI 77 Holdings. At Aptitude Development, they focus on the student sector, doing ground-up student housing across the country.</strong></p> <p><strong>Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation:</strong></p> <ul> <li>The misconception that colleges are going out of business</li> <li>What is a student housing model?</li> <li>The benefits of investing in the student housing space</li> <li>About Aptitude Development and ENJOI 77 Holdings</li> </ul> <p><strong>Episode Highlights:</strong></p> <p><strong>Are Colleges Going Out of Business?</strong></p> <p>There’s a huge misconception from the headlines that colleges are going out of business. But there are great state schools and state school systems, which are seeing a lot of growth.</p> <p>In fact, student housing has historically been known as the most recession-resilient asset class in the real estate sector. The reason being, during times of economic hardship, most people go back to school. And you see a massive jump in enrollment when you cannot get a job in the economy. For instance, in 2008, enrollment across the board skyrocketed.</p> <p>And we're seeing today how student housing has the second-highest collections in the country, behind industrial. It’s actually performing better than multifamily, senior housing, or any other type of asset class. They saw collections between 92% and 94% as an industry in March, April, and May when no one was on campus. With parents as the guarantors – and this is the reason the student housing model works.</p> <p>40% to 60% of the student houses are still occupied because these kids don't want to live with their parents. The hybrid model has been great so far for the school