Why You Should Invest in These College Towns (LIST)

For years now, real estate investing in college towns has been considered profitable. As several students and faculty flock to these towns at the beginning of academic terms, usually after Labor Day, RealtyTrac put together a list of the best college towns you should invest in to get the most returns.

RealtyTrac hasn't just ranked the top 10 college towns you should buy in right now, but has also compiled a list of areas where selling should be profitable in 2014.

To arrive at the rankings, the property intelligence firm gathered data on public universities that offered four-year programs and that had enrollments of 20,000 or more in 2012. It also considered those towns that had an unemployment rate of below the national average of 6.2 percent.

To rank the 10 best college towns for investment, RealtyTrac accounted for average rental yield in the areas. Find the list of the best college towns to invest in the tweet embedded below:

The top 10 college towns for flipping were ranked on the basis of average return on investment on the sales of single family homes in those areas. Take a look at that list below:

There are always pros and cons of investing in college towns. While the upside of investing in these student-filled areas includes a large tenant pool, stable rent and fewer vacancies, the downsides are difficulty in finding tenants during off season and excessive wear and tear to property.