Urgently upgrade
The current demand for accommodation for students does not stop at price factors and location near the school. Factors such as cleanliness, ventilation, no flooding and adequate amenities are increasingly being paid attention to. Grasping this trend, landlords have proactively improved the quality of their services.
Taking advantage of the summer vacation, when many students return to their hometowns or have just graduated to return to their rooms, Ms. Nguyen Hoai An - the owner of a boarding house with nearly 20 rooms (Ninh Kieu district, Can Tho city) - has hired workers to repair and upgrade everything. In addition to replacing the new hot air vents, Ms. An also equipped some other comfortable furniture in the rooms.
"The upgrade has only been started for more than a week now. Many students want to stay in groups of 2-3 people, so they are very interested in the interior. Therefore, I installed more refrigerators and washing machines. This not only makes rental rooms more attractive but also creates a significant competitive advantage, said Ms. An.
Specializing in serving students and long-term self-employed workers, Mr. Le Van Tam (Binh Thuy district, Can Tho city) also decided to renovate the space inside and outside his boarding house. Along with raising the floor and equipping the roof at the common parking lot, Mr. Tam also repaired the kitchen and bathroom area.
This is the right time to repair when most of the students who are renting have already taken a summer break and the new students have not yet joined. In addition, the rainy season is coming, and repairs are necessary to avoid affecting the lives of tenants, Mr. Tam shared.
Limit rental price increase
In the context of new rental areas continuously growing, creating fierce competition, Mr. Tam chose to keep rental prices stable, even without increasing prices, to retain regular customers and attract a large number of new students.
"Although more and more boarding houses have been repaired, it is still difficult to be as comfortable and modern as the boarding houses built later. For that reason, we have to accept not increasing prices to be able to compete again. Students staying long-term and stable is also a big benefit for them, said Mr. Tam.
Sharing the same view, Ms. An shared that in the past 3 years, room prices have remained stable. For this upgrade alone, each room will increase the rental fee by 300,000 VND/month. This was surveyed by her students before and was supported.
"Because rooms are usually divided into households or groups of 2-3 students, if divided, this increase is not too significant. In addition, customers will have a refrigerator and washing machine to use, which is very convenient, said Ms. An.
