Football season.
Basketball season.
House-hunting season.

A growing number of parents and their academic offspring are finding that rental housing is not the only game in college town.

Take a real estate market where rents in college and university communities are growing by leaps and bounds and add the advantage of giving kids a head start in their careers with a good credit score, and the thought of buying housing for college-bound children becomes an enticing alternative.

For example, parents with kids at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, are quickly doing the math and finding buying can mean their sons and daughters can have housing very cheaply if they have a roommate or two, according to local realtor Paul Livingston.

In Cougar Country—Washington State University’s hometown of Pullman—realtor Keith Kincaid said animals are another reason buying is becoming popular.

Veterinary students are discovering purchasing a home is the only way they can keep their beloved pets, Kincaid said.

“That is why they get into buying,” he said.

For Brenda Rowinsky and her husband, buying was almost a moral imperative when looking for a place to live for their Texas A&M undergraduate daughter in College Station.

“I’ve never been one to throw away money on rent,” she said.

In the two years she and her husband have owned a home in College Station, the college mom said the appreciation has been “fantastic.”

While owning a home for their ag school daughter has the Rowinskys feeling sky high, Rohit Chopra, former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau student loan ombudsman, said there are some factors that could bring enthusiasm about the idea down to earth.

Roughly a third of college students will transfer to another school to complete their studies, Chopra noted.

“Transferring can throw a big wrench into your real estate investment plan,” he said.

Owning can also interfere with the career prospects of graduate students who discover the best or only jobs available are elsewhere, added Chopra, now a senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America.

That's on top of the downside responsibilities and dangers that come with being a landlord, including repairs, property taxes, insurance and, if roommates are involved, the possibility that they might stop or get behind in paying rent.

As for the benefits, a little appreciated advantage of buying is that it can prevent students from having the added stress of looking for a new apartment during finals, said Kelly Moye, a realtor for 26 years in Boulder, Colo., which is home to the University of Colorado.

One of the main reasons college parents in Boulder buy is to help their college-age kids establish good credit, she said.

Credit agencies reward college students with high marks when they are cosigners on a mortgage the parents are dutifully paying, she said.

But Chopra said the reverse can be true, too. If for any reason, such as unemployment or illness, the parents can’t make the mortgage payments, the ability of the children to get credit at reasonable rates---or to obtain loans period--can be impaired.

The potential for good and bad credit impacts doesn’t apply to rental agreements cosigned by parents and students since lease payment histories are rarely reported to credit agencies.

Back in College Station, the Rowinskys’ realtor, Rayleen Lewis, said it’s a good idea to buy a home in a university community rather than rent when parents know their student is going to be in the property for three or more years, or there are multiple children that will be going to college in the same area for multiple years —even if there is a year or two break in between.

She said the best time to buy, especially in a college town with a heated market, is during the off seasons in fall and winter. Less lookers mean better prices for buyers, she said.