How to increase ROI in your children

Let’s face it. Unless your children are the next Sidney Crosby, children are kind of a sunk cost.

“A sunk cost is a cost that has already been incurred and thus cannot be recovered…Sunk costs (past costs) are excluded from future business decisions because the cost will be the same regardless of the outcome of a decision.” –Investopedia.com

Obviously, most people don’t have children with return on investment in mind. But, financially savvy parents run with the opportunity their child’s commencement of secondary education presents to add to their nest egg.

The skinny

Parents with wisdom (and financial ability) are purchasing homes for their student children near campus for a variety of reasons, primarily to recoup some of their healthy investment in education as the property appreciates over time.

Hold the outrage

While some may feel reservation about instilling in their offspring a sense of entitlement through gifting something as large as a house, those with a practical experience report the opposite occurring.

“My friend’s parents purchased them a home their first year of university. The offer was conditional upon her property managing the house, taking on roomates, securing monthly rent and doing general upkeep of the place. Suffice to say, she now has an amazing work ethic” -B. Whence, Haligonian

Forgetting the eventual positive effect on your investment portfolio for a moment, consider reasons of the heart for securing safe housing for the duration of their university career.

Can’t beat that peace of mind

The term ‘dorm life’ can conjure a myriad of nightmare scenarios for parents concerned about the environment their budding adult will be growing in.

Bed bugs. Dormmates. Shared bathrooms. Plantar fasciitis. Not to mention the mystery smells.

Student rentals suck

Perhaps it’s been awhile since you’ve had to personally seek out a student apartment off-campus. Rest assured, they’re still the same cramped, odd smelling, laundry coin operated, thin-walled, scent and noise sharing communes, er, communities they always were.

Oh, and overpriced, too – students pay a premium for rentals near campus because, with so much competition, it’s a landlord’s market. Gross.

Your student can’t help but grow

Taking on the role of property manager will teach your kid more about business than any first-year intro class.

Managing a house is no easy task, as anyone with a mortgage can attest. Many students acquire real-life experience that accompanies the responsibility of being a property manager. This sets them up for financial management savvy like their parents’.

Final takeaway

Anyone interested in maximizing their already substantial investment into their student’s education would be best suited to speak with an unbiased mortgage broker as soon as possible. rates are still reasonable but have nowhere to go but up according to economic prediction.

Still skeptical?

Seriously? Kids are swell, but real estate is statistically more likely to offer you an ROI than a Bachelor wielding twenty-something. Purchasing a house for the kid offers returns as satisfying financially as the feeling of watching them cross that stage at graduation, and lasts quite a bit longer, too.

Contact the Cheeky Monkeys at Team Clinton here.