Purpose-built student housing wasn't always an institutional asset class. When Jared was tracking the sector in college, two public companies dominated it and most developers hadn't touched it. His first deal in Syracuse required staking out an unresponsive seller on his morning commute just to get a conversation going — and delivered 40% net returns in 18 months when it sold to a publicly traded company.

From that first project, deal sizes have grown from $18 million to $100 million-plus, and the capital stack has evolved alongside them. What started with friends-and-family money has shifted toward institutional partnerships as the sector matured and larger players began paying attention. Aptitude has stayed ahead of that curve by sourcing deals directly, doing the heavy lifting on underwriting before ever approaching a capital partner, and being selective about the markets worth betting on.

In this episode of The Dealmakers' Edge, Aaron and Jared discuss how he broke into student housing before institutions cared about it, why large state schools are the only markets worth betting on long term, how to design buildings that hold up against 18-to-22-year-old tenants, and the mindset that keeps him steady through the volatility of development.

1:20 - Falling into real estate by accident and discovering entrepreneurship through development

7:19 - The eight-month pursuit of a seller that launched Aptitude’s first project

11:15 - The importance of disciplined land basis and refusing to “lie to yourself” in underwriting

13:58 - Scaling from friends-and-family capital to institutional partnerships

18:10 - The set-up of Aptitude’s executive team and launching an in-house management platform without team bloat

23:19 - Why student housing is operationally intense, but fundamentally durable, and designing for durability with 18-22 year old tenants

28:23 - Competition within the student housing asset class and why large state universities represent a long-term bet on enrollment stability

33:06 - Creating liquidity through quality construction and long-term market selection

34:19 - Jared’s resilient mindset for when things aren’t going well

Mentioned In Pioneering Student Housing and Scaling a Development Business with Jared Hutter

Aptitude Development | LinkedIn

Jared Hutter on LinkedIn

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