Time flies and by next fall your child will be a college or university student. Most likely, you don't live conveniently close to the school where they will be attending for the next 3-5 years, so they will leave the family home. You are probably thinking about all the money that will be spent in the next few years on rental housing or student residence fees.

Here are some of the benefits of investing in housing for your student child:

• Buy a condo for resale with added value in mind. In the student cities, like Calgary, you'll find neighbourhoods in which condos hold a lot of value and, oftentimes, rise in value. If your child is handy enough, you might want to consider buying a duplex or detached home so that rented extra rooms can help you pay off the mortgage while still saving money compared to paying residence fees.
• If you have several children who will be students in the next few years, the student housing budget of all will probably be far higher than your mortgage payments and carrying...