VIDEO: Renting Homes Out For College Football Weekends

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Mississippi State football games bring thousands to Starkville every fall.

This means places to stay go quick and can be hard to find. Now, some homeowners are renting out their homes because it makes dollars and cents.

Starkville is a growing college town that brings in thousands of students and alumni for football games. It’s also a renting hotspot.

“My house is 2,200 square feet. Four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, dining room, living room, also a play room, and a fenced in backyard for a $1,000 dollars for a weekend; so divided by four couples, it’s way cheaper then getting separate hotel rooms,” says homeowner, Rebecca Tabb.

This is the second football season Tabb has rented her home out, and it all started through word of mouth.

“They couldn’t find anything in Starkville, I guess last minute, you know football weekends, a lot of the hotels kind of jack their prices up because they know people are going to come to town, so I was approached if I would rent my whole house out, or just a room out, and it wasn’t any problem for me, so I just jumped on the opportunity.”

Homeowners aren’t the only ones jumping in on the opportunity, realtors are too.

“Sometimes, if I’m getting calls on the weekend, it’s because they want to tour around Starkville. They want to know more about the market. They maybe on the fence you know, deciding if they want to buy or not, and that’s parents of students who buy a lot, and alumni buy for football weekends, and all of kinds of sporting events too,” says Starkville Properties Realtor, Amanda Edwards.

Edwards has been in the business for a decade, and says renting your home out started becoming popular around three to five years ago, especially in college towns.

“Hotels can be really expensive, and of course, they have a two or three night minimum stay, and some of the vacation rentals, or you know rental by owner, may not have as many restrictions because they’re not regulated by really anyone, so they don’t have restrictions. Especially if you know the owner, you could probably really get a good deal.”

Renters get a good deal, and so do the homeowners.

“It helps me afford to do the things I want to do in my house that I probably wouldn’t be able to do without renting it out.”

Tabb only rents out and books people she knows, but other homeowners find renters through commercial companies.