Well, it is hard to imagine but all three of my kids are placing VT at the top of their preferred college list. This comes as quite a surprise as all 3 are born and raised here in Newport Beach. My daughter is a Senior now and I am beginning to do some planning. We won't know for sure for several months where she chooses to go but one can only hope!
I guess taking them back to the burg several times while they grew up may pay dividends!
So, I am in Real Estate and I don't like to pay rent so of course I am looking at buying a place for them to live and then either keep or sell. I am thinking a 3bd (preferred townhouse) on the eastside that is walk/bike distance to campus. I used to live at the Roanoke St apartments so I am biased to that area.
Do any of you have a solid reference for a broker who covers Blacksburg and who may even specialize in residential investment properties?
Thanks guys.
Comments
Maybe even a Principal Broker who is through-and-through-a-Hokie enough to sponsor TKP? Funny you should ask!
https://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2021/february/9/realty-resource-tkp-s...
Fantastic. Sending an email now. Cheers.
You, my friend, are a champ. Not a chump.
Yep, this.
Hi Law!! Would you consider any Christiansburg locations? Ones that are convenient to blacksburg? Of course that would eliminate walking to class, but can be had at a savings!
I'm selling my home (not a townhome) near the cburg center this fall.
Where's your house located at? I'm actively looking in the Christiansburg area.
In the neighborhood across the street from Horne Funeral Home.
Sorry... l want to buy as close to campus as possible... definitely walking to downtown. I don't want my kids tempted to drive after a big night out. :)
Also denying them the seminal experience(s) of living close to campus and near their friends with a move to C'burg.
I read this as you want them to be as close so you don't have to drive when you visit for football games.
What? Nooooooo! That totally never crossed his mind!
You want your kids to follow...The Law.
As someone that was 1 of 4 siblings that all at some point of their college career lived in my parents condo in Blacksburg this is a great investment for both you and your kids. I didn't appreciate it as much as I should have until I moved out and lived in another apartment senior year.
Fantastic comments. Love you guys. My daughter loves repping her Virginia Tech shirt at school. It's amazing how many of her friends (she goes to Newport Harbor) are all looking at schools in the south. It seems like half my peers are moving to Franklin. The funny part is nobody ever mentions VT. She has friends going to Clemson, Florida, Baylor, Auburn, etc. but not one of them went to Blacksburg for a campus visit.
The SEC has largely a limited academic standard, and actively recruits from other parts of the county to raise the school admission score and academic level higher than would be possible with a predominately in state population. They do this by offering out state students a tuition rate reduced to at or near in-state levels for "high" academic achievers. We live in NC. The cost of going to Clemson or USC for our boys was close to that of going to NCState or UNC, and less than half of VT or UVA.
If you track values, you'd see that 3-4 BR units have gone up 50% or more since 2018. And there is a lot construction of units all over town- considerable supply coming on line soon.
I sold my 40K condo last year for 155K.
As an parent of 2 kids living in NC, my bank account cringes at the thought of both of my girls wanting to go to VT when they're ready for college.
Part of me is really banking on the tuition bubble popping sometime in the next 15 years.
I'm kind of hoping mine decides she wants to be a plumber. Coming from the dad who used to whisper in her ear when she was little: "Don't be a chemist ... don't be a chemist."
Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators also make nice bank.
Good welders generally make 6 figures if they are willing to work on the pipelines.
and I'd encourage anyone to look into getting a Class-A CDL. everyone needs drivers right now.
Anyone? You know we have people from Maryland on TKP, right? You want to put them behind the wheel of a semi?
You know what ol' truck driver Jack Burton says at a time like this...
Just like TKP.
Your mind went straight to the worst case scenario.
Expect the worst and you'll never be disappointed or unprepared, my friend.
This has been true for 10 years or more, hugh demand, can make good money. If you want to travel 6 figures is highly doable. If you want day trips then $70k is doable.
The industry is dying out and its going to be a long time before our infrastructure is ready for automated trucking.
I'm working hard to convince all 4 of my girls to either play golf and go to Tech or go to UCF and work at Disney so the mouse pays for school.
Mickey is paying for my MBA. 😀
If I could find a remote job or even one I could come down for not everyday I would apply in a second. They had a cruise line job that was perfect, crisis Managment but I was a Fay late in seeing it. Hopefully they will be bringing back the college payment program for new cast members soon.
I just learned yesterday that the head of safety at Disneyland might be a Hokie. I know that's no help to you, but I thought it was a cool fact. Potentially.
Unsolicited opinion:
I think that it's best for most students to live in dorms their first year. Education comes from a lot of other places than a book and class rooms. Learning to deal with lots of different people is important. Also you meet more people that way. Thry might not be life long friends or even make it to you sophomore year, but its an experience that lots of people don't get anywhere else.
Your kids, your money, thats all up to you to decide. But while I hated my roommate, hated the fire alarm war with Pritchard, hated not being able to leave my laundry, I wouldn't change a thing.
I agree. I learned so much I'd NEVER have learned if I'd had my own apartment freshman year.
Doesn't mean you can't buy a condo and rent rooms to re-coop the investment. But with inflated prices, is real estate really the best investment right now? I guess a realtor might see it differently, or might have a cash-flow approach that would work.
Yup, the plan is definitely to have her live on campus the first year. I could take the condo down now and rent it out and have her manage the tenants (and learn how to run an investment property). I've done the math and based on purchase prices vs rent payments I am seeing quite comfortably how to receive an 8-10 percent cash on cash return and also turn a negative room/board commitment for three years into a cash flow positive one with the upside of longer-term appreciation. If you have the capital deploy to me it is a no brainer. I am firm believer in not paying rent. I am currently looking into whether capital and subsequent mortgage payments for the residence could qualify under the 529 guidelines. This way she would have equity built up so she can 1031 into another place once she qraduates and start a positive financial pattern of home ownership versus paying rent. I HATE paying rent and it is one of my tenets for a sound financial plan.
Friends of mine (husband and wife) have a realty company that they own together but she got started in college by renting out the house she bought in Knoxville. She still owns the house and it's part of their portfolio. So one of your kids my learn to like doing that and make a career of it.
So you're talking about buying cash and 8-10% return?
Not sure what your question is... cash on cash return is the actual cash yield from your actual cash outlaid for the investment.
Good news! My girl got in to VT. We are so stoked. I am of course already looking into Football Ticket Packages... currently evaluating two club options: the south end zone (1200/ticket) or the outdoor club (2400/ticket). We live in So Cal so the thought is to come back for three or four games and then sell the rest. Here is my question... do any of you have these packages? Is selling the tickets for games you won't attend a hassle? If you have south end zone tickets, how was your game day experience? I would love to not pay double for the midfield outdoor club tickets but will do it if it is worth it. Thanks!
Congrats on your daughter!
Congrats to your daughter and you. We're still trying to get our SoCal son to get interested in VT for when he graduates in 4.5 years. He enjoyed our visit to Notre Dame more than VT. :/
Congrats. I understand that Tech received 45,000 applicants for next year.
Congrats on the Acceptance Letter!!!
Now to answer some of your season ticket questions:
I just restarted my season tickets after moving to Florida and I went with SEZ club for a lot of there things you mentioned.
Thanks for the info however when I called the folks back yesterday I was informed that all the Premium/Club seating packages are sold out except for a few of the Indoor Club seats which I don't want. So I went ahead with "bowl" seats that are pretty near midfield and about 20 rows up... $2,675 (for two ticket, six games and "b" parking passes.) I was told that StubHub is an approved reseller however I'll come to this board first with the games we have available once we dial in our schedule. Our hope is to make 3 games but 2 is more likely. Final note, I was told there is a "step-up" opportunity that comes in May so we will give it a go then to see if we can improve (my wife wants club) but I am happy if it doesn't work out as my first priority is to be outside and have a great view of the game which these tickets provide. So, is there a Key Play tailgate I need to know about? :)
Lot 18, the last grass bastion.
Congrats to your daughter (and you, you've obviously done something right)! Did you end up buying a place?
Thanks folks on the congrats! Appreciated. We are so happy. She plans on "accepting" tomorrow and doing the obligatory IG post with her wearing her VT shirt. We will look at real estate options when we get there at the start of the Fall Semester. Hokies!
Congratulations to you and your daughter. I was hoping to be able to say the same. My son is graduating from an IB program with a 4.4 GPA, aced 4 of his last 5 math SOLs, scored 1510 on his SAT, captain of the crew team, active volunteer in the community, and recipient of the VT $5,000 scholarship award for his school, yet he was waitlisted. I'm not even sure what it takes to get into VT these days.
Wait... what? This doesn't make any sense to me. Are you applying from in our out of state? The only thing I can maybe pin down here as a differentiator on our end is my daughter applied for admission in to the Hospitality and Tourism Management program and our family owns restaurants (my daughter started working in our shops at age 14). The rest of your son's metrics are just insane. Let's start a change.org petition to get him in!
Thanks for the smile (change.org!). He's in Virginia (Va Beach, Princess Anne IB Program), and applied for Biological Systems Engineering. He's questioning why he put himself through the rigors of IB right now, and I'm struggling with how to best support him. We teach our kids to take the hard road, that the work will pay off, but this goes counter to those teachings. He was born in Blacksburg (literally) and has wanted to be at VT for most of his life. It's a real bummer.
🤔
I read The Gatekeepers in high school, detailing college admissions. It's not pretty. Nor is it exciting. If you aren't in a top percentage (10% for one of the featured schools), you're lumped into a list of deciding factors - extracurriculars, interviewed, financial aid, and yes, even race (native American was featured in the book). The results are 100% subjective.
I would hate that it would be the case, but here's to hoping he gets to slide in from wait listed to accepted.
Learning how to work hard is important so that you know how to work hard, kind of like learning how to learn so you can learn more. But rarely I have seen hard work pay off. My parents (~80yo) apologized to me a few years ago because they only taught me hard work to get ahead and they realized to late that there is way more to getting ahead than hard work.
I realized that way before they told because i'd been screwed over at jobs multiple times because of stupid reasons.
PS. I don't know how your kid isn't in, that's ridiculous.
There's certainly way may to getting ahead than hard work, but if you rarely see hard work pay off I would suggest you flip over a few more rocks.
Eh, I see that largely of a waste of hard work. The amount of effort to find work that will accurately reflect you contributions in salary and status is ridiculously high. So I'd rather spend my hard work to make differences in other peoples lives instead of my own. I am very fortunate I am in a position to do that, not everyone is. And I think learning how to work hard is important to because the reward is your own pride in work, but finding others to acknowledge that is really tough.
I would be happy to give you some ideas of how to navigate this situation. My son went through a circuitous route to get in many years ago. Don't know if it will help but I can at least share suggestions and what worked for us. Email NinaTrott at comcast Dot net
Thanks! We will take any suggestion that may make a difference. I'll send an email momentarily and appreciate the offer.
That seems entirely absurd. Hopefully he gets in off the waitlist because wtf.
Sadly my understanding is that they prefer to make the in state students fight for a bare minimum allotment as they make out of state pay more. That said, he has done everything to qualify. His SAT's were better than mine (1360 back in the 90's).
What's interesting on this is that my daughter was offered $$$ to other out of state schools and not VT... so this could absolutely be a financial thing and if so... what the heck?!?! We expect this in California (try getting in to a UC school if you are in-state... almost impossible... we have Valedictorians getting denied regularly.) Something is broke folks...
To be honest, I'd recommend kids trying to get into VT to check the Corps of Cadets box. I'm not sure if it's the same now, but when I went through in the late '00s it was an almost surefire way to get accepted. Go in as Corps only, put in the time through red phase (or whatever they call it now), then leave afterwards and become a regular civilian student.
That was my mistake in 2002. Especially coming from a high school JROTC honor unit with distinction.
I can second this. I was told that had I not joined the Corp, I would have been waitlisted and potentially not admitted. Instead, I did my 8 weeks time and then transitioned over to normal civilian student life.
Going for early decision got both my kids in and they were good students in their classes not great but very well rounded in all activities and volunteer work. They also wrote great essay answers for the application.
I got pulled from the waitlist so there is hope. In all honesty send him to CC he sounds like a bright kid so CC classes shouldn't be hard and try to transfer after a year (it's almost guaranteed after two years and the right GPA). It's what I wish I would've done as I sit here paying off student loans remembering how I had to learn two semesters of calculus from a computer screen.
So it's true everyone has to go to that strip mall for math?
At least 1525/1526 which is what 80% of incoming students will have to take
Wow.
Yea, even some of the lower math for engineering was done at the Empo.
Could you take it at CC over the summer before or after first year?
Yes. Might've delayed you in engineering but in my program it wasn't a pre req for anymore of my classes, I had friends take it at New River second semester freshman year
Although I found having to go to math class with a bunch of 18-22 year olds in my 30's wasn't exactly easy either.
A couple anecdotal thoughts... (and I'm hoping that your kid gets in!)
My son (junior in hs) signed up to go to one of their fall information days on campus through the admissions website. We visited campus, went on a tour, sat through admissions info, financial aid info and visited a second info session in the college he was thinking of getting his major. In the admissions session, they mentioned that high school demonstrated rigor was the most important (even above GPA). They get a list of the classes that your high school offers and they compare it to your transcript so they can tell if you took rigorous classes. They also said that early decision and early acceptance applications have the highest probability of acceptance to VT (those are the kids that really want to be there).
I've also heard (but can't verify) that demonstrated interest plays a part. How many times is your kid scanned at a college night event where VT is present (they can scan a QR code now), how many times did he attend an info session on campus, how many times did he interact with social media (this one I'm not sure of how they track). Maybe have your kid reach out to admissions via phone or email and just reiterate that VT is his top choice and he really wants to be a Hokie. Can't hurt and it shows demonstrated interest. Another interesting thing I read is sometimes colleges (not VT specifically, this is just generally) won't accept the highest kid during regular admittance because through some combination of data points/algorithms, they think your high stat kid is looking at other higher end schools and would likely turn down the VT offer. They try and target the admissions to kids they think will actually accept and come.
Regardless, sending you the best Hokie vibes on your kid. He sounds like he would make an excellent Hokie!
Can confirm about not accepting the highest, my sister got denied from her backup schools because they didn't want to waste a spot on her when they clearly believed she wouldn't go there. That was over 20 years ago.
All good points. He nailed the academic side, certainly with the most challenging course load. The algorithm has been a consideration for us (he was getting a lot of love from the Ivy League schools, but tossed those letters and packages due to his interest in Tech). Not sure about his demonstrated interest - pretty scary what is traceable these days.
We're going to keep plugging away. Before acceptance letters were issued, we had scheduled a tour for Friday March 4th, and he still wants to go. Who knows, maybe we will bump into a difference maker on campus?
I did a quick google search for ways to show demonstrated interest to a college. If he hasn't done so, go to admissions page and sign up for prospective student info (maybe use same email address as on his application so they can connect them). Here was a recommendation from the first article that popped up:
" To show interest, get on their mailing lists, and open the emails they send (colleges often track this information). Follow them on social media. If you can visit campus, do that and schedule a tour. If you can't, try to attend a college event near you and speak to someone from the school."
Again, this may not help him at all, but I don't think it could hurt to try?? I had my kid sign up for facebook and twitter just to follow them on facebook, twitter, instagram, etc and also follow the individual college within VT social media (like the college of Natural Resources, engineering, etc). So ever little bit he'll like a post, I'll like a post, etc. I have no clue if it will help him next year but I wanted him to do everything he could to show interest. I really wish your son all the best. Keeping fingers crossed!
One of the difference makers should already be available to him through his high school. In Virginia every high school as an assigned application/enrollment/recruiter person (at least it did 10 years ago). If he doesn't know who that is, he should talk to his guidance counselor. He should set up a meeting with that person and talk to them. I've know several people that got into VT solely because of this person. There should also be another person that oversees these people that could also possibly help.
The caveat is that I have heard these people may not have as much decision making leeway anymore which caused some previous people in this position to quit and leave VT. Previously they could really push and get you accepted if you show that much interest and desire to go to VT.
Another thing to try is to email and set up a meeting with the department head of the program your kid is trying to get into for when you are on campus. It shouldn't hurt and they may also be available to help.
My wife (girlfriend at the time) got wait-listed back in 2011. She called admissions and told them how much she wanted to be a Hokie then she also wrote a letter to admissions I believe. Not sure if that helped or not but she got off the wait list and got accepted on her birthday which was pretty exciting.
That definitely could have helped then. I know several people who talked to admissions about how much they wanted to go to VT around then and they all got off the waitlist.
UPDATE - what a great week! Hokies win the ACC Tourney and my kid came off the waitlist to be accepted into VT Engineering! If it's all a dream, please don't wake me up. Go Hokies!
LET'S GO!
HOKIES!
Congrats from a fellow father of a Hokie Engineering junior who hopes he only has to pay for 1 more year.
Amazing! I couldn't be happier for you and your son. All the best!
Gobble Gobble that's awesome news!
Congrats! On a scale of 100-1000% though how much is she committed to Virginia Tech University?
Always say 800.
As someone who has a junior this year that wants to go to VT, I have also been concerned about admissions. He's a good student, taken DE classes, varsity sports all 4 years, high GPA (not over 4.0 but close) but hasn't cured cancer and doesn't have stellar SAT scores. Did I mention that both his parents are Hokies and both his parent's parents are Hokies along with a LONG list of aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. That being said, I looked at last years stats for admissions and they are CRAZY! I wouldn't have gotten into Engineering today like I did in the 90s.
My backup plan for him is CC. If you go to a connecting VCCS school, VT has transfer agreements in place that almost automatically accept you as long as your GPA is above a 3.0 at CC. Google VT and Community College Transfers and you'll hit on some information that might be helpful if your reading this with your kid in mind.
Being a legacy with so much family will probably give him a solid boost. I was waitlisted in 08 when I applied, did the two year CC route and then three in Blacksburg. Got an associates degree and guaranteed acceptance to VT with it. I saved a ton of money and still made good friends while I was there doing it that way vs attending one of the other colleges I did get accepted to.
Just make sure the cc time actually counts for anything. For architecture, cc is a waste of two years. You're still at tech for another five. Im sure there are other majors that are similar.
In engineering my English transferred from dual enrollment CC, which was great, but that was it. Definitely check before you expect credit for classes.
I was under the impression the two year engineering associates in Virginia was modeled after the first two years of courses you'd be taking at VT so they were all transferrable. This was 14-15 years ago though. I do not know of anyone who had transfer credit issues (excluding architecture mentioned above but aside from gen eds CCs aren't offering architecture specific classes) when making the move from CC to VT. I have a buddy who brought in an absolute shit ton of credits from high school and got an aero degree at the age of 20 in my time there.
You have to complete specific curriculum tracts at specific VCCS colleges to meet the guaranteed transfer requirements. See the different programs at this VCCS webpage.
https://www.vccs.edu/transfer-programs/#statewide-transfer-agreements
You can get a pdf document for VT Engineering requirements by clicking on the link on the above webpage.
Yeah that is what I was talking about. The engineering tract at VCCS colleges was put together with input from VT so as to best setup the students transferring in. At least that is what I was told when I was in CC. I am aware of the guaranteed transfer requirements (as they existed over 10 years ago at least) because I personally did them.
I took Statics at CC over a summer session and credit transferred back to VT no problem in time for the following fall semester
Slightly OT but wasn't sure where to put this one but my son, who is a freshman this year, got one of the student intern spots with the football team. To begin with he will be working in Player Relations. Will get more info when he is home for spring break since he isn't a big phone talker!
As someone who has a 6th grader and not a HS aged child yet, what are DE classes? Did those replace AP classes that we had in HS over 20 years ago?
In VA at least, there are regular classes, Honors - get a higher GPA, AP- gets a higher GPA and the choice to take a AP exam for college credit, and DE. DE is dual enrollment where the student is enrolled in a community college class taught by a high school teacher and they receive the college credit for it.
Thanks, my memory is a little foggy. I actually took a DE class in 1998 (welding), so it was around then too.
I have friends daughter who is doing that DE work. She figures when she graduates high school she is going to have an associates degree already.
Learning so much about VT now that I am on the other side of this... the sports side included. My daughter is getting up at 7a tomorrow to sign up to get her football season tickets. It is football only... the football/basketball combo is sold out (and was never made available to her as an incoming freshman). I was telling her about the days of the unlimited athletic card. Any hot tips I should be aware of regarding the student side of things?
Late 90's you had to camp out to get good VT football tickets even as a student. I recall it still being random but if you wanted good seats (bottom half of the east stands) you had to camp out as those were the ones that they distributed first. This was before either end zone had any real seating and it still had "Home of the Fighting Gobblers" written on the outside of Lane Stadium.
It definitely wasn't that way in the early 90s, when I was there. Lots of empty seats, including the bleachers in the south endzone with the trees behind them.
(Okay, I was there in the mid- and mid-to-late 90s, too. Best 8 years of my life.)
Yeah I may not be remembering it correctly, that just is what I recall. I don't think student season tickets were a thing, and you did not have to pay for them (it was covered under the "athletic fee"). It was definitely not all that hard to get tickets until later in my run (99 season)
I remember going to the BC Thursday night game my freshman year in 95, and the corners of the east stands were definitely empty. But later that season it would be sold out.
I remember that game (BC Thursday night in 95). I'd brought some Belorussians who were here doing work for one of the physics professors I worked for. I spent most of the game trying to explain the rules and strategy of the game. But I'll never forget the ending. We should've won that game, two drops in the last four passes inside the 5 yard line. Ugh.
Yup, then the inexplicable loss to Cincy to start 0-2, then run the table and beat Texas in the Sugar Bowl. That was a glorious season.
Suck ass BC and Pitt teams have kicked our ass so many times, it's maddening. It really is. It would be like Vandy and Fucking Kentucky having your number constantly in the SEC. maddening.
Student tickets were a thing, they were free, and they were located on the east side, which is now prime real estate. Vick changed everything. He really did. The first year we wore Nike, it was juts that- a fake swoosh sewn on.. after Vick, they approached us with a proper apparel deal. It can't be understated.
Join the marching band, get guaranteed football tickets
Feel like they change this every year. My Freshman year in 2011 you couldn't get season tickets as a Freshman you had to enter the lottery for every home game. There was also no such thing as a basketball/football season ticket combo for students.
Good to see they're giving freshman more opportunities to get into games.
Same - I was a freshman in 2008. For football, only way to get game tickets was via the lottery. Once you were a sophomore, you could get season ticket. For basketball, I got season tickets as a freshman. No option for combo football + Basketball for students at any point in my college career.
Yeah for basketball I just walked in to most of the games after tipoff of course I was there for the James Johnson years so they weren't typically drawing a crowd.
I'd walk in without a ticket with all the people returning from tailgating for halftime. Or just hop the fence behind the East Stands if I wanted to go early and forgot to put my name on the list to get a ticket.