<p>This is a very common thing to do. People do it most often in the westernmost part of Center City, across the Schuylkill River from Penn and Drexel, in the neighborhoods between Rittenhouse Square (very fancy) and the river. There are a bunch of condo buildings that basically cater to Penn and Drexel students, graduate and undergraduate, and 20-somethings working at the universities. They are easy walking/biking distance to the universities, and also to everything in Center City. There has been a boom in the condo market in the past few years, but I think you can still find functional, fairly nice 2- and 3-bedroom condos in older buildings at prices where the economics work.</p>
<p>University City west and southwest of Penn has a lot more character, but the properties are older – houses from the 1890s, or pre-war apartments – and more risky in terms of value fluctuations and things going wrong. </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong – that’s where I lived, and I never wished I was living in a condo in Center City. But I’m not certain I would want to be an absentee property owner there, even if my kid were living in the property.</p>
<p>One trick to look out for in the University City neighborhood: properties that are inside the local preference zone for the Penn-Alexander Elementary School cost a lot more than equivalent properties in the same neighborhood, but on the other side of the street. Of course, if you are housing or renting to students, they probably don’t care what school their non-existent kids could attend, and they may not want to pay for the school. On the other hand, values are likely to be more stable inside the Penn-Alexander zone.</p>
<p>By the way, pretty much 100% of Penn students move off campus by their junior year, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense to hold open the possibility that someone will stay on campus.</p>
<p>I would add Melani Lamond to the list of brokers to contact about University City properties. Allan Domb is a big name in Center City condos, although he works more at the high end of the market.</p>