The numbers are shocking but realistic. See: You Don’t Have As Long With Your Parents As You Think | by Tim Denning | Ascent Publication | Medium; 75% of the time you’ll ever get to spend with your kids is over by the time they turn 12 | Mumsnet. These statistics remind me of the Harry Chapin song, Cat’s in the Cradle.  The following graphic is from the 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom:

We read The Family Board Meeting  (Our Book | The Family Board Meeting — 18 Summers) and realized that we only have 18 summers with our kids, currently 14, 12, and 10 years old. Our 14 year old has a God given talent for hospitality. Our 12 year old daughter is a natural entrepreneur. We were looking for opportunities to incorporate our rental businesses with teaching our children new talents. Similar to Cleaning House, we sought to cultivate our children's gifts and talents in entrepreneurship.

We own four single-family residence short term rentals in West Lafayette, Indiana. Our guests are overwhelmingly parents, or grandparents of Purdue students. These parents and/or grandparents are making the most of the limited time to spend with their Purdue children. We noticed that these parents and/or grandparents would come for big events, most notably Purdue graduations. They would come 3-4 times over the course of several years leading up to Purdue graduation. We would also anecdotally hear that these parents would come for smaller events, a Greek parent weekend, a Purdue football or basketball game, etc.  

Quality over Quantity

As the amount of time with their children diminishes, these parents and grandparents of Purdue students seek to spend more quality time to offset the loss of quantity of time. We seek to assist these parents spend more quality time with their Purdue students by offering properties that are very convenient to Purdue campus.

Our first two short term rentals, Blocks from Purdue, Ross-Ade, Mackey, Samara House (illustrated in the above Airbnb search image by the blue outline arrow) and Purdue, Ross-Ade, and Mackey in your backyard! (illustrated in the above Airbnb search image by the gold outline arrow) each receive positive feedback from guests due to convenient location. See Snip of Rankbreeze Review Analyzer page 1 Blue House 24OCT2025.JPG: (“Many reviews highlight the convenience of the location, particularly for Purdue University events.”) and Snip of Rankbreeze Review Analyzer page 1 Destination Station 24OCT2025: (“The property’s proximity to Purdue University is frequently mentioned as a significant advantage, especially for those attending events or conferences.”).

529 W. Stadium Avenue, West Lafayette, Indiana 47906 is a multifamily building including eight two-bedroom, one-bath units. 529 W. Stadium Avenue enjoys the same convenient location (illustrated in the above Airbnb search image by the purple outline arrow). We expect positive feedback from guests due to its convenient location to Purdue University campus. Therefore, we gave 529 W. Stadium Avenue, West Lafayette, Indiana 47906 the name Stadium Suites and the tagline: Purdue, Ross-Ade, and Mackey at your front door!

How to choose a short-term rental between a single-family residence and a unit in a multifamily building?

No single option fits all.  There are several factors to suggest booking either a SFR or a unit in a multifamily building: (1) Space and privacy, (2) amenities and lifestyle, (3) location and accessibility, and (4) cost and budget. There are several other factors that didn’t make the following chart:

Regardless of whether you choose a single-family residence or a unit in a multi-family building, we seek to provide parents and grandparents of Purdue students with housing options in convenient locations to facilitate quality over quantity interactions. Instead of the Cat’s in the Cradle son asking for the car keys after coming home from college, what would have been the response if the Cat’s in the Cradle father had gone to the college to spend time with his son? A single-family residence may have offered the father and son a chance to sit and chat in a spacious backyard. A unit in a multifamily building may have offered the father and son to go enjoy a baseball game together.