Live in a popular college football town and want to make a quick buck this season? Consider renting out your home on game day weekends, because you may be able to recoup up to 70% of your monthly homeownership costs from one night alone.
In a new study, personal finance website NerdWallet reviewed vacation rental statistics (provided by HomeAway) from 10 cities represented in the AP Top 25 college football teams and saw that the median nightly listing price for renting an entire home more than doubles—2.37 times, to be exact—on game day weekends. This translates to an increase of about $410.
But in South Bend, Indiana, home to the University of Notre Dame, it’s possible for homeowners to make even more, or about 144% of a month’s mortgage and associated costs by renting out their homes for one night alone. And in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tides play, residents can pull in up to 101% of their monthly obligations—that’s more than $1,000 over the average nightly rates on nonevent days.
Homeowners in Ann Arbor, Michigan will see a similar jump in what they can command per night on game day, with the average nightly price of $550 on regular days skyrocketing to $1,665 a night. Not bad at all. After taking a look at the infographic below, you may have to start rethinking your game-day strategy. Head to NerdWallet for the full results.
NerdWallet used 2016 rental data from HomeAway for the 25 cities that had an AP Top 25 college football team in 2015, eliminating any town that had insufficient data.
