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The couple, who live in Wichita, about 170 miles southwest of Lawrence, spent more than $400,000 to buy and remodel the three-bedroom house in 2012. āItās tastefully done but it still has KU colorsāwith a red door and blue shutters,ā she said.
Alumni boosters like the Murfins are putting a new twist on the hunt for off-campus housing, purchasing getaway homes in seemingly unlikely spots: Lubbock, Texas; Spokane, Wash.; East Lansing, Mich.āor wherever there is a big university with a top-ranked team and rabid alumni.
āJust in the last five or six years, weāve seen people buying places that, except for game times, are vacant,ā said Martha Bashore, a real-estate agent in East Lansing, home to Michigan State University. The Spartans are a dominant force in the NCAAāthe basketball team has appeared in the Final Four nine times, bringing home two championships.
āSpartan spirit is just savage,ā Ms. Bashore said. āIām working with a couple from Arizonaāthey want to come to as many games as they can. They are just waiting for a two-bedroom condominium to pop up in this particular building, and theyāll buy it, sight unseen.ā
The benefits of a game-day house go beyond basketball season, alumni say, citing university townsā vibrant lifestyle.
āItās like being in college without the pressure,ā said Ms. Murfin, who painted the opening words of KUās alma materāFar above the golden valleyā¦āover her front door.
Spotting an untapped market, developers have begun targeting well-heeled alumni. Splinter Creek, a new lakefront community with homes priced from $850,000 to $1.5 million outside Oxford, Miss., has pursued graduates of nearby University of Mississippi with full-page ads in its alumni magazine and launch parties timed to coincide with big home football games.
Dale and Cheryl Swinburn, who own a commercial farm in Tulia, Texas, considered buying a vacation home in New Mexico before deciding to build a brick townhouse in Lubbockāhome to Texas Tech and its Red Raiders basketball team.
āWe see all the home football games and all the basketball gamesāitās a rarity that we miss one in Lubbock,ā said Mr. Swinburn, class of 1965.
The Swinburnsā 2,500-square-foot house, which they built and furnished for about $400,000 in 2008, has a Red Raider room (scarlet walls, black leather couch) and an enviable location less than a mile from the stadium.
Mark Blaufuss, who graduated from Michigan State in 1990, has had season tickets for football and basketball for years, but struggled to nab hotel rooms in the college town.
"I knew the exact day the Marriott would open up a room for reservations for each football game,ā said Mr. Blaufuss, a mergers and acquisitions consultant.
Although he lives about 75 miles away in Plymouth, Mich., he says he prefers not to drive home after games.
āThere could be inclement weather,ā he said. āBeerāthat adds another layer to it.ā
So in 2016, Mr. Blaufuss and his friend and fellow alum, Mike McNamara, who lives about 90 miles away in Rochester Hills, bought a two-bedroom condominium for $230,000; many of the previous ownerās Spartan-themed furnishings, including logo-embossed leather bar stools, were thrown in with the purchase. They decorated their man cave in Michigan State colorsāgreen and whiteāwith a pair of 55-inch television screens, a Kegerator and a patio barbecue for pre-tailgate parties.
Kris Snow, president of Cisco Capital at Cisco Systems, who lives in the San Francisco Bay area, didnāt attend a single game when she was a student at Gonzaga Universityās School of Engineering.
āI was studying all the time,ā said Ms. Snow, who is on Gonzagaās board of trustees and whose daughter is currently enrolled as a junior. āNow, Iām a major NCAA basketball fan.ā
Last Aprilājust days after Gonzagaās menās basketball team lost the national championship game to the University of North CarolinaāMs. Snow and her husband closed on a 1926 Tudor with three bedrooms in Spokane for $520,000, which they are gut-remodeling.
āThe homes on both sides of us have Zag families,ā she said, using the nickname for Gonzaga grads. āWhen we go back to Spokane, we feel so welcomed in by the Gonzaga family.ā
The renovation will be completed next fall; the bigger challenge is finding a seat in the KennelāGonzagaās basketball stadiumāto watch her beloved Bulldogs play. There is a long wait list for season tickets.
āWe beg, we borrow,ā Ms. Snow said. āEven for those who are as committed as we are, tickets are hard to find.ā
Love Your College Team? Buy a āGame-Day Houseā
Alumni boosters like the Murfins are putting a new twist on the hunt for off-campus housing, purchasing getaway homes in seemingly unlikely spots: Lubbock, Texas; Spokane, Wash.; East Lansing, Mich.āor wherever there is a big university with a top-ranked team and rabid alumni.
āJust in the last five or six years, weāve seen people buying places that, except for game times, are vacant,ā said Martha Bashore, a real-estate agent in East Lansing, home to Michigan State University. The Spartans are a dominant force in the NCAAāthe basketball team has appeared in the Final Four nine times, bringing home two championships.
āSpartan spirit is just savage,ā Ms. Bashore said. āIām working with a couple from Arizonaāthey want to come to as many games as they can. They are just waiting for a two-bedroom condominium to pop up in this particular building, and theyāll buy it, sight unseen.ā
The benefits of a game-day house go beyond basketball season, alumni say, citing university townsā vibrant lifestyle.
āItās like being in college without the pressure,ā said Ms. Murfin, who painted the opening words of KUās alma materāFar above the golden valleyā¦āover her front door.
Spotting an untapped market, developers have begun targeting well-heeled alumni. Splinter Creek, a new lakefront community with homes priced from $850,000 to $1.5 million outside Oxford, Miss., has pursued graduates of nearby University of Mississippi with full-page ads in its alumni magazine and launch parties timed to coincide with big home football games.
Dale and Cheryl Swinburn, who own a commercial farm in Tulia, Texas, considered buying a vacation home in New Mexico before deciding to build a brick townhouse in Lubbockāhome to Texas Tech and its Red Raiders basketball team.
āWe see all the home football games and all the basketball gamesāitās a rarity that we miss one in Lubbock,ā said Mr. Swinburn, class of 1965.
The Swinburnsā 2,500-square-foot house, which they built and furnished for about $400,000 in 2008, has a Red Raider room (scarlet walls, black leather couch) and an enviable location less than a mile from the stadium.
Mark Blaufuss, who graduated from Michigan State in 1990, has had season tickets for football and basketball for years, but struggled to nab hotel rooms in the college town.
"I knew the exact day the Marriott would open up a room for reservations for each football game,ā said Mr. Blaufuss, a mergers and acquisitions consultant.
Although he lives about 75 miles away in Plymouth, Mich., he says he prefers not to drive home after games.
āThere could be inclement weather,ā he said. āBeerāthat adds another layer to it.ā
So in 2016, Mr. Blaufuss and his friend and fellow alum, Mike McNamara, who lives about 90 miles away in Rochester Hills, bought a two-bedroom condominium for $230,000; many of the previous ownerās Spartan-themed furnishings, including logo-embossed leather bar stools, were thrown in with the purchase. They decorated their man cave in Michigan State colorsāgreen and whiteāwith a pair of 55-inch television screens, a Kegerator and a patio barbecue for pre-tailgate parties.
Kris Snow, president of Cisco Capital at Cisco Systems, who lives in the San Francisco Bay area, didnāt attend a single game when she was a student at Gonzaga Universityās School of Engineering.
āI was studying all the time,ā said Ms. Snow, who is on Gonzagaās board of trustees and whose daughter is currently enrolled as a junior. āNow, Iām a major NCAA basketball fan.ā
Last Aprilājust days after Gonzagaās menās basketball team lost the national championship game to the University of North CarolinaāMs. Snow and her husband closed on a 1926 Tudor with three bedrooms in Spokane for $520,000, which they are gut-remodeling.
āThe homes on both sides of us have Zag families,ā she said, using the nickname for Gonzaga grads. āWhen we go back to Spokane, we feel so welcomed in by the Gonzaga family.ā
The renovation will be completed next fall; the bigger challenge is finding a seat in the KennelāGonzagaās basketball stadiumāto watch her beloved Bulldogs play. There is a long wait list for season tickets.
āWe beg, we borrow,ā Ms. Snow said. āEven for those who are as committed as we are, tickets are hard to find.ā
Love Your College Team? Buy a āGame-Day Houseā
