Well I don’t know anyone rich enough to buy housing for their college kid but mine live in an off campus town house in State College with 3 room mates. Much cheaper than the dorm. They each have their own room and bathroom.
The idea is to have roommates who share the cost. If it is a $1500 mortgage, the child would pay $300 and 3 friends would also each pay $300 and the parent pays $300. At the end of four years, or however long, the place is then sold and the father pockets what remains after paying off the mortgage.
By the time a child is 18, many parents have the wherewithal to do this and it’s a low risk investment. It may not make much money in the end, unless you keep the place and continue to rent it to responsible college students, but you basically paid nothing for your child to rent a place over those four years and you might have even made a small profit to offset the cost of education itself.
My son’s school doesn’t have a traditional dorm. They have student apartments. 8 students share a pretty spacious apartment with several bedrooms and a large common area. No cafeteria either. Each student is responsible for his own meals.