Ordinarily, at this time of year, apartments around Ohio State University's campus are fully rented for fall semester. Not this year. OSU's rule requiring sophomores to live on campus, which takes full effect in the fall, is causing landlords to hunt for tenants and in some cases to do the unthinkable: reduce rents.

Ordinarily, at this time of year, apartments around Ohio State University�s campus are fully rented for fall semester.

Not this year.

OSU�s rule requiring sophomores to live on campus, which takes full effect in the fall, is causing landlords to hunt for tenants and in some cases to do the unthinkable: reduce rents.

�This is the most temperamental and tumultuous time as far as off-campus real estate that I�ve ever seen,� said Brian Grim, owner of University Manors, which manages 550 campus-area rentals.

Starting in the fall, all Ohio State sophomores � projected at 5,800 to 6,000 students � must live on campus. Traditionally, half of those, or about 3,000, would have moved off campus.

That translates to 17 to 19 percent of the 16,000 to 18,000 Ohio State students estimated to live off campus in the University District.

As a result, hundreds of campus-area homes, duplexes and apartments remain listed for fall rental on the real-estate website Zillow. Signs advertising fall leases line Summit Street, North 4th Street, Chittenden Avenue and other campus-area strips.

And with final exams ending Tuesday, landlords are making last-minute pitches to get students to sign fall leases before they leave campus.

�Landlords are trying to figure out any way to attract the students that remain and maybe attract other students, such as those at Columbus State, or recent grads who don�t mind staying on campus,� said Jon Schick, who leases about 60 apartments and homes near campus, including six of his own.

Because sophomores often live in large groups, landlords say demand is especially soft for big homes.

�Four bedrooms and up have taken a significant hit,� Schick said. �With many of those still left, the rent has been reduced.�

Schick recently dropped the asking price of a five-bedroom, two-bath home he�s listing on Summit Street from $2,125 a month to $1,900 a month.

Susan Conley, property manager for Here & There, which manages about 220 rentals, agreed.

�When sophomores come out, they want all their buddies to live together,� she said. �The four-, five-, six-, seven-bedroom places are the problem.�

Conley said all the company�s rentals normally would be spoken for by January, but she is still seeking tenants for about 20 properties.

Asked whether her company has reduced rents, Conley said, �We�re negotiable.�

The campus-area rental market operates by its own rules. Rentals turn over en masse in August. Landlords who miss that date face the alarming prospect of going a year without tenants.

Wayne Garland, owner of Buckeye Real Estate, which manages about 1,000 properties around campus, said he has seen some softening of demand. He just reduced the rent he seeks on several West 9th Avenue town homes, for example � but he believes larger companies like his are better able to withstand the hit.

�I�m getting called by the (mom-and-pop operations), asking, �Can I buy your leads?�� Garland said. �They say, �I�m not renting my units.��

Rent increases, which have been a normal part of campus life, are no longer taken for granted.

�If you have A-quality property, you�re still able to get some increases, but the smaller stuff, less well-maintained and farther away, you�ll see a rent decrease,� said Scott Solomon, whose family started Oxford Rentals Co. more than 50 years ago.

�We�ve enjoyed 3 to 5 percent rate rises for 15 years,� he added. �We�re not going to see that now.�

Amanda Hoffsis, president of OSU�s development arm Campus Partners, said a tougher rental market may give students leverage they have lacked and prod some landlords into investing in their properties to attract tenants.

�If there is a softening, we hope it�s a Goldilocks softening � just the right amount because it encourages investment,� she said. �There are a lot of landlords who haven�t invested because they haven�t had to.�

Hoffsis also pointed out that while the sophomore rule will take about 3,000 tenants out of the market this fall, the overall off-campus market has risen by about 2,000 in the past decade because of the growth of OSU�s student population.

�It may be loosening up a bit, but there�s still plenty of demand,� she said.

The university�s sophomore rule was prompted by studies that found a connection between student success and engagement with the university, said David Isaacs, spokesman for OSU�s Office for Student Life.

�We�ve found that students who live on campus are much more engaged with the university than those who live off campus,� he said.

In addition to the sophomore rule, campus-area landlords are worried about a wave of new apartments that will start opening next year around campus. Apartments housing more than 1,500 bedrooms are planned or under construction along North High Street and Lane Avenue, all targeting students.

Landlords acknowledge they have a vested interest in opposing the sophomore rule, but they still believe it will cost sophomores and their parents more money and could harm the University District.

Dorm rooms cost about $3,000 to $4,000 per semester, or roughly $750 to $1,000 a month. The price of off-campus housing varies widely but starts below $500 per bedroom and, except for new apartments, tends to top out around $900 a bedroom.

�The kids in the long run are the ones suffering because we�re a lot less expensive than the dorms,� said Steve Moberger, managing partner of University Manors.

Experienced landlords say they have stopped buying property until the market settles. However, as Hoffsis notes, the market remains healthy enough that landlords aren�t leaving the area.

Garland, one of the veteran landlords, expects the market to be soft for a few years, then stabilize again.

�The reality is, we�ve been spoiled for awhile,� he said.

jweiker@dispatch.com

@JimWeiker

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