Quota Additions at Super Competitive Schools

[aggieAXO]

Originally Posted by irishpipes

The house is full now, but it was a real struggle at first. We actually had several parents who had bought regular family homes for their kids to live in during college. The kid gets a couple of roommates to help with the mortgage payment, the parents get a tax break, and daughter gets to have a pet (this was actually a huge problem - students with pets), a walk-in closet, her own bathroom, etc. Considering the cost of dorms on campus (the good dorms) it is a financial no-brainer for parents. Not the college or sorority experience I would want, but it's hard to convince parents otherwise.

That is what my mom did-she purchased a townhome and my roommate paid the mortgage. I sold it for a profit once I graduated and mom got a tax break. Property was cheap in College Station-if it had been Austin this would not have happened as property is very expensive in this town.

[AnchorAlumna]

This is why I wonder why the lodge concept has never been big. You have a smaller number of women living in to help pay the mortgage/rent, but still have the meeting and storage rooms. It can be a privilege to live there, rather a requirement. Students can have more of a choice.

I thought huge houses to have to fill, heat and cool would die out, but that has not been the case.

One of these days, enrollments will drop...and/or going Greek will NOT be a big deal, and we may regret building the mansions. Things always go in cycles. You have to be prepared for the bad times, too.

[OleMissGlitter]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

This is why I wonder why the lodge concept has never been big. You have a smaller number of women living in to help pay the mortgage/rent, but still have the meeting and storage rooms. It can be a privilege to live there, rather a requirement. Students can have more of a choice.

I thought huge houses to have to fill, heat and cool would die out, but that has not been the case.

One of these days, enrollments will drop...and/or going Greek will NOT be a big deal, and we may regret building the mansions. Things always go in cycles. You have to be prepared for the bad times, too.

Totally agree with you. I know that was the main reason why AOII at Ole Miss did not add more rooms when they added on a chapter room and extension to their dining room. Plus, even strong chapters can struggle keeping their house full. Why put that added stress on your members?

Of course I wouldn't trade my 3 years of living in the AOII house at Ole Miss for any apartment, condo, etc!

[dnall]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

This is why I wonder why the lodge concept has never been big. You have a smaller number of women living in to help pay the mortgage/rent, but still have the meeting and storage rooms. It can be a privilege to live there, rather a requirement. Students can have more of a choice.

I thought huge houses to have to fill, heat and cool would die out, but that has not been the case.

One of these days, enrollments will drop...and/or going Greek will NOT be a big deal, and we may regret building the mansions. Things always go in cycles. You have to be prepared for the bad times, too.

Lodges are problematic. You really need to cover the mortgage 100% from rent. Otherwise you're even more prone to problems when that business cycle circulates to the lower side.

You need A size chapter room, dining room, common areas, etc to support B range of chapter size. That determines everything.

You have to pay for it with X rooms at Y per month. You can warehouse people in there to keep rates low, but then you have trouble filling it when times are tough. Or, what's going on a lot more lately is, you can put in fewer rooms in a suite or even apartment style setup at a higher rate. That makes for a lot less to fill & easier to get people in there, which better weathers the tough times.

There's kind of a formula to it. There's no reason you can't have a big house that you can keep full without all those problems. It's just a matter of designing what's going to work best economically for the situation, location, and chapter. There's a couple really good companies out there that are good at figuring out that calculus. I don't think a lodge model is great answer in most cases, but I guess it could work under certain circumstances.

[LadyLonghorn]

Originally Posted by aggieAXO

That is what my mom did-she purchased a townhome and my roommate paid the mortgage. I sold it for a profit once I graduated and mom got a tax break. Property was cheap in College Station-if it had been Austin this would not have happened as property is very expensive in this town.

My folks bought my place and it worked out nicely for all of us. You probably have to plunk down more money up front in Austin than most places, but the price of real estate around campus continues to increase, so it's a good bet you'll still make money off the deal.

[aggieAXO]

Originally Posted by LadyLonghorn

My folks bought my place and it worked out nicely for all of us. You probably have to plunk down more money up front in Austin than most places, but the price of real estate around campus continues to increase, so it's a good bet you'll still make money off the deal.

When I moved to Austin in 97 I was in sticker shock, I could not believe how much more real estate cost. Yes, there was money to be made if you had enough for a down payment. I bought a condo 10 minutes from downtown and within 5 years it almost doubled in price.