Homeowners in popular college football towns can more easily tackle their mortgage payments by renting out their homes during game day weekends, according to a new NerdWallet study using 2016 data from vacation rental giant HomeAway. The study reviewed data for 10 cities that had a football team in the AP Top 25 last season and found that nightly rates leap significantly on game weekends, offering a potentially lucrative opportunity for homeowners willing to pack their bags for a night. In the college towns reviewed, the median nightly listing price on HomeAway for all days of the week more than doubles during game day weekends — it’s 2.37 times more, to be exact. This is an increase of $410 from the median nightly rate. Because of this price surge, homeowners in these towns could on average pay off 70% of a month’s homeownership costs by renting out their homes for just one Friday or Saturday night during football game weekends. Monthly homeownership costs, a 2015 figure from the U.S. Census Bureau, include mortgage payments, utilities and real estate taxes. In some towns, the potential returns are even greater: Residents of South Bend, Indiana — home to the University of Notre Dame — stand to make enough to pay a whopping 144% of a month’s homeownership costs by renting for one night during a game day weekend. Read the full report for more details.
Emily Starbuck Crone is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: emily.crone@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @emstarbuck. Dan Tonkovich is a data analyst at NerdWallet. Email: dtonkovich@nerdwallet.com.Franny Canine is a visual designer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: fcanine@nerdwallet.com. The article College Town Homeowners Can Make Extra Cash on Game Day originally appeared on NerdWallet.
College Town Homeowners Can Make Extra Cash on Game Day
