Every August, the same question lands in our inbox: your kid is heading into second or third year at UBCO, the dorm guarantee has run out, and you're staring at four more years of rent receipts that build zero equity for anyone. Would it make more sense to just buy?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Here's the actual math and the practical side most people don't think about until after they've bought.
The Rent-vs-Buy Math
A studio or one-bedroom on Academy Way rents for roughly $1,500–$1,900/month. Over a 4-year degree, that's $72,000–$91,000 in rent — gone, with nothing to show for it at graduation.
Buy the same unit in the $400,000–$450,000 range instead, and a typical 20% down payment plus closing costs puts real cash into the deal — but every mortgage payment builds equity instead of paying someone else's mortgage. If your student takes on one or two roommates in a 2-bedroom or 3-bedroom unit, their rent contributions can cover a meaningful chunk of the carrying costs (mortgage, strata fees, property tax), sometimes close to all of it.
The honest summary: buying only wins if you're planning to hold through the full degree (ideally longer) and if Academy Way's steady appreciation and rental demand hold up — both of which have a solid track record here, but neither is guaranteed. If your student might transfer schools after a year, renting is the lower-risk choice.
Which Buildings Actually Suit This
Not every building on Academy Way is a good fit for a parent-buyer. What matters most for this specific use case:
- Proximity to campus. Academy Hill and U One sit closest to UBCO — the shortest walk matters more to a parent worried about winter mornings than it might to an investor chasing yield.
- Room for roommates. A 2 or 3-bedroom layout lets your student bring in one or two roommates to help cover costs. Academy Ridge's townhomes and the larger layouts in U Two and U Three are built for exactly this.
- Newer buildings, healthier reserve funds. You won't be living nearby to manage a special assessment in person. A newer building (2018+) with a strong reserve fund reduces that risk considerably.
The Part Most Parents Don't Think About
You're buying a property you won't be living near. A few things to have a plan for before you close:
- Who handles roommate placement and rent collection if your student isn't comfortable doing it themselves — this is something our team can help coordinate.
- Strata rental bylaws — confirm the building allows your student to rent out a spare room to a non-family roommate before you count on that income.
- Property management for the summer — if your student goes home for 4 months, will the unit sit empty, get subleased, or get short-term rented (check current STR bylaws first)?
- Whose name is on title — most parents buy in their own name (or a family trust) for financing and tax reasons rather than the student's. Talk to your accountant about the right structure before you write an offer.
The Exit Strategy
This is where buying tends to actually pay off. When your student graduates, you have three options: sell (Academy Way's steady demand from the next wave of students and staff makes for a reasonably liquid exit), keep it as a long-term rental investment, or hand it down to a younger sibling who's headed to UBCO next. All three are realistic outcomes here — that's a big part of what makes this corridor different from a random condo purchase near any other campus.
We'll walk you through current listings that fit this exact use case, and can help coordinate roommate placement and rental management once your student is living there.