Just anecdotally, I have friends who have been very successful with buying and renting condos/apartments in a college town. Demand for rental units stays high

Just anecdotally, I have friends who have been very successful with buying and renting condos/apartments in a college town. Demand for rental units stays high (well-known, reputable public university). Oddly enough, they have generally negative experiences renting to parents of students instead of directly to students. I will say that my friend works full time as the property manager for their units. It's not a passive investment. Several years ago, I talked with an accountant who had clients who owned rental property about the ROI. The feedback was that if you had to hire a property manager and outsource all repairs/maintenance, the value proposition of rental property was greatly reduced and closer to neutral than many owners initially assumed. It looks like it is working out well for my friends though - they were able to leverage their financing as they acquired new units because interest rates have been so low. They have been cash-flow positive for many years. But they also capped themselves at about 20 units under management.