How to Help Your College Kid Get Out of Debt

In these first years of the 21st century, college and university students are finding themselves increasingly burdened with financial debt.�¯�¿�½ They borrow heavily in order to pay tuition, buy books, and cover living expenses while working toward their degrees, both undergraduate and graduate.�¯�¿�½

Borrowing has become a way of life for such students.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Whereas their parents had obtained financial aid packages which consisted more of funds which they didn’t have to repay once they’d graduated and entered the workforce, today’s students find themselves receiving aid packages containing mostly loans which have to be repaid.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ It’s not unusual to see undergraduates leaving school with an indebtedness in five figures, while the debt load of some graduate students, especially those in professional schools (i.e. medicine, law, etc.), hits six figures.

Imagine being thousands of dollars in debt and not yet established in a career or having to make a mortgage payment every month!Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ No wonder so many parents are despairing for the financial situation of their college-educated offspring in today’s world.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Increasingly, they are looking for ways to help them get rid of such heavy debt loads.

One of the best ways they’ve discovered is through real estate.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ More specifically, if their child is enrolled in a college or university in a location where there’s a hot real estate market, parents buy a condo, coop, or house there.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ While their child is enrolled in school, she or he resides in the property.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Since the place is usually large and can accommodate several other occupants, the student has roommates of her or his own choosing.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Naturally, each roommate pays an agreed upon amount of rent each month.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Formalizing the relationship, the parent landlords have the roommates sign rental agreements specifying the amount of rent due each month, the date it’s due, where checks are to be sent, the amount of the security deposit due before moving in, and other such matters.

The total amount of rent the parent landlords receive each month just may be enough to cover the mortgage payment on the property each month.�¯�¿�½ While that is a satisfying prospect, along with tax breaks which they can enjoy in connection with owning a rental property, the real icing on the cake, however, is the appreciation in the value of the property which they expect to occur while their child (and the roommates) are occupying the place.

Given the almost mind boggling rates at which properties have been increasing in such places as California, New York, and Washington, D.C., for example,Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ it’s very possible that the market value of a property might double (or come close to it) over a 4- to 5-year span.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ What a welcome financial windfall!

When their childÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ graduates and moves out of the property, the parents can sell it and realize enough from the sale to pay off their child’s debt.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ That truly rates as a win-win situation for both parents and student!