The neighborhood was built in the 50s and 60s. At the time the homes were built, they were the high-end houses, and the neighborhood has been insulated from rental encroachment for a long time. Now, some of the homes are being turned into rentals, but they are pretty much always homes that have been poorly maintained and go for cheap. Once those homes get turned into rentals, the landlord pretty much lets the landscape die and never invests anything in the maintenance or improvement of the structure itself.

There are a limited number of homes that are suitable as student rentals, because of the costs of homes in the neighborhood and the zoning. So the idea is to purchase those homes when they become available in order to:

1) control who lives in them
2) maintain/improve the quality of the properties
3) eventually sell them to an owner-occupier