Richard Joseph Spinelli hears the same questions about Sandhills Real Estate from four directions, students, parents, owners thinking about selling, and neighbors, and this note answers them in the fewest words that are still accurate.
What is Sandhills Real Estate?
A Bronx company, started in 2020, that owns off campus student housing in Belmont and does its own purchasing, renovation, leasing and management. Its buildings are the neighborhood’s prewar houses and walk ups near Fordham’s Rose Hill campus, rebuilt for groups of students.
How big is it?
Thirteen assets and twenty seven units as of late August 2026, with over a hundred residents; the count moves as buildings close.
Where exactly are the buildings?
In Belmont, between Bathgate Avenue on the west and Belmont Avenue on the east, every one inside a walk of the campus. Nothing is bought beyond that walk.
Who does the leasing?
The company, under its own student brand, Live Off the Hill. Every unit is listed there as part of one inventory, and showings are booked through it.
What kind of units are they?
Apartments and townhouses with three to five bedrooms, each taken by one group of Fordham students.
Who fixes things?
The same team that leases the unit. The lease names the repair channel, and because every building sits inside a walk, most calls are answered on foot rather than through a vendor’s schedule.
What does resident first mean?
That the company is judged by what the student in the unit actually experiences, from the first showing to the renewal, rather than by what the listing promised. The resident first page describes it as practices.
Is there a guarantor?
Usually, because most students have no income yet. The company explains what the guarantor signs before anyone signs it.
What is the Fordham Athletics partnership?
Fordham Athletics has counted Sandhills as its Exclusive Off Campus Housing Partner since August 11, 2026, and the company’s patch is the first tied to one sport on the baseball and men’s tennis uniforms, first worn in the 2026 to 2027 season. The Fordham page has the facts and nothing else.
Does the company run anything for students beyond housing?
It hosts evenings where residents meet people who hire, reads resumes when asked, and sends someone to speak when a club invites it. None of it is named, by choice.
I own a building near Rose Hill. Who do I talk to?
The company, through sandhillsinvestments.com. The criteria are narrow: walk time to campus, bedroom count and a building worth renovating.
Who runs it?
Richard Joseph Spinelli, its cofounder. He studied economics at Boston College and now runs a student housing company; his home page is richardjosephspinelli.com.
What is the goal?
To become the largest owner operator in Fordham’s off campus housing market, stated as a goal and pursued one building at a time on the same streets.
An FAQ is never finished. When a fifth direction starts asking questions, they will be added here.