Category Archives: Corporate Housing 101

Property Marketing & Rental Success = Relationship Building

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TIP: CHBO property owners if your property needs to get rented send a marketing email to all past email housing requests.  Login to your MYCHBO account to review old email leads.

TIP: Property Marketing Email – from the Property Details Page of any CHBO property listing email yourself the property and then forward that email to potential renters.

Remember the good old days when you had a property to get rented, you paid for an ad in the newspaper and all potential rents knew to go to the same place to find all their choices :)  We think the internet is making our lives easier, but sometimes really it is just making our lives more confusing.  There are thousands of place to market rental properties on the internet and property owners  and tenants are having a hard time connecting.

So, what can you as a property owner, do to get over this pain of trying to find the next tenant in all the thousands of places possible on the internet?  Relationships!  The great thing about Corporate Housing is that users/renters are normally consistent users/renters and not just individuals who need to rent one property once a decade.

Think about it, the Project Manager that needs a furnished apartment in Portland this month could just as easily need a corporate condominium in Tampa next month.  The Human Resource Director that needs a place for a new hire this week could also have a new hire next week or next month.  The company with the Summer Internship program this year will also have the same program next year.

The importance of NOT thinking of property rentals as “one off” transactions and instead developing relationships with each housing inquiry is an ESSENTIAL ELELEMENT for SUCCESS in your property rental.  This element of “Relationship Building” is why CHBO promotes listing your property annually in the CHBO system vs just when you need a tenant.

Tasks:  Keep track of all your email leads and general housing requests.  When your property comes available send a quick email to these guys just in case they have a secondary need.  This can easily be done through a program like Mail Chimp.  Keep track of local businesses that contact you and develop a list of potential repeat clients and even take the time to send a Holiday Card or something fun to these contacts.  One CHBO property owner sent me a Thank You card that she had made with her property featured on the front of the card.  You can use an easy site like Shutterfly.com.

 

Tip… luv the housing request :)

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One of my favorite CHBO tools is the Housing Request form – Last week a friend asked me to find them a rental in San Antonio, TX – I filled out the “Housing Request” form and within a few hours had 10 properties to choose from, plus more great information like: My property will be available on June 3rd if you can wait or If you like this property I also have a two bedroom you might like.

Wow this made my housing search so much easier and I found the what I needed – THX CHBO

submit-housing-request

Relocation Questions & Data

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This month the annual Corporate Housing Industry Report came out showing that gross rents for Serviced Corporate Apartments was $2.66 Billion in 2012 and 37% of that business or $984,200,000.00 was a direct result of Relocation needs.

According to the Annual “By Owner” Corporate Housing report 43% of property owners report having tenants related to a Relocation.

Last year the CEO of CHBO served on the US Advisory Council for the ERC / Employee Relocation Council the trade organization that represents the entire Relocation Industry and according to ERC we have seen a return to Pre-Recession “New Hire” Relocations but we are still waiting to see a resurgence in “Talent Management” Relocations.

What does this means for you?  We expect a continued increase in relocations in 2013!

The NY Times recently ran an interesting article “To Relocate or Not? It’s More Than Math.”  They asked some great questions about minimizing risk.  We believe that taking the time to “Test Drive” a neighborhood by staying in Corporate Housing before you buy will allow you to make the best real estate investment choice.

Do you know anyone who is “testing” a neighborhood before they buy?

 

Corporate Housing Gained Better than Hotels in 2012

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A press release issued by the Corporate Housing Providers Association (CHPA) earlier this month found that the corporate housing industry remains strong despite a challenging business climate. In the US, industry revenue increased to $2.66 billion in 2012.

CHPA CEO Mary Ann Passi says, “Corporate housing still made gains in revenue in 2012 even though companies faced apartment inventory shortages and increased competition from other lodging choices. With apartment communities having the lowest vacancies since 2002, finding favorable lease terms for corporate housing providers was and remains challenging.”

The reports also found that while relocation and contract work remain the strongest uses for corporate housing, many providers also experienced a dramatic decrease in government or military stays due to spending cuts and significant restrictions on travel. As the government sequestration continues and budgets remain tight, corporate housing providers remain hopeful for a stronger business economy, a more favorable job market with more relocations and an increase in long-term stays needed by clients.

For more information about the report and its findings, visit http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1192646#ixzz2RFxcWhjQ

Corporate Housing by Owner put out its own annual by owner report earlier this year. You can learn more about it by reading our blog post, “Reflecting on the 2012 Corporate Housing By Owner Annual Report.”

How Politics Impacts Corporate Housing

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corporate housing and politicsIf you don’t think politics impacts the corporate housing industry, think again. While it doesn’t matter who wins or loses the election, what does matter to the corporate housing industry is having enough properties to provide temporary, furnished housing for elected officials.

Did you know that most state legislators stay in temporary, furnished housing while they are in session? In Colorado, for example, 1,600 people come from all over the state to work in Denver when the State Legislature is in session. These elected officials all need temporary housing. If you have a furnished rental near the state legislator in your state, perhaps you could market your property to state legislators? To do this, pump up keywords in your property listing profile with words like, “near state capitol,” etc.

On the flip side, we have worked with plenty of state officials who had bought a property near their state capitals, furnished them, and then stayed in the properties while in session. These same officials would rent  out their properties as corporate housing rentals between sessions and after they are no longer elected officials.  If you’re an ousted elected official, perhaps you could rent out your furnished property to your competition – then at least you can be their landlord if not their congressman.

And here’s a fun fact on this exciting election day. Did you know that Washington DC has the highest number of corporate housing rental properties in the U.S.? This is mainly due to the transient nature of people in politics. Elected official today, ousted tomorrow!

Not got out and vote!

CHBO Helping Families Displaced by Sandy Find Temporary Corporate Housing

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short term housing during hurricanes and natural disastersWe are very saddened about the devastation Superstorm Sandy has caused our east coast neighbors in New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and other surrounding areas. Our hearts are hurting too even though we are not directly impacted ourselves here in Denver.

We know this is a very difficult time for everyone affected – especially for those whose homes will need to repaired or even rebuilt. Many of you will need temporary housing more than ever as you move forward with your lives.

If you are or know someone who is in need of short-term housing while their home is being repaired or rebuilt, please encourage them to visit CHBO. Many of the short-term rental properties listed by individual homeowners will be able to accommodate any short-term rental needs and special requests. We even have some city specific property listing pages you can reference to make your search for short-term rentals easier:

Click here for New York Corporate Housing

Click here for New Jersey Corporate Housing

While many of those left homeless from the storms are staying with friends and hotels for the short-term, they should start thinking about long term options. The good news is most insurance plans will cover a corporate housing or vacation rental stay while you’re displaced from your home.

Our CHBO community near and far has expressed overwhelming compassion for those in need at this time – please get in touch directly with landlords with propeties listed on CHBO to see if they can help.

Stay strong and be well. We are thinking of all of you at this time…

 

 

How Storage Can Help Prepare Your Home for Corporate Rental

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How to prepare a corporate rental for a tenantCorporate housing has been experiencing serious growth in the past 20 years. In 2010 alone, corporate housing revenue was at an all-time high with 2.47 billion in revenue, beating out 2009’s record by almost a quarter billion. Clearly this industry has become a preferred alternative to the traditional hotel stay, and so for landlords it is important to make sure that your property has exactly what the tenant is looking for.

Being that it is corporate housing, that of course means that the place is going to be furnished. However, just because you are allowed to have stuff there does not mean that is an invitation for you to store all of your useless belongings. There are things that the tenant does want in their home, but there are also things that they do not. For example, no tenant wants to see their landlords junk and clutter taking up space in their newly rented home, they just want the basics – a couch, bed, dishes, linens etc., — not three coffee pots and a an extra mattress lying around.

Renting a storage unit is the perfect solution to de-cluttering a personal residence and turning it into a fabulously furnished rental. Sometimes you are just in need of some extra space, but allowing your tenants to suffer because you decided to put extra stuff in their home is not a good idea. With self-storage, you can keep all the things that you don’t use every day out of the way until you find an appropriate place for them.

Once you have decided to de-clutter your property, you must draw the line between what is essential and what is not. Below are a few tips that should help you out.

  • Start with duplicates. If you have two (or three, or four) of something, first consider donating it. If, for whatever reason, you think you will need those extras, keep one in the rental and put the rest into your storage unit.
  • This should go without saying but if you have more than one of something and only one works, throw the broken ones away. Be honest with yourself, are you ever really going to get around to fixing it? Didn’t think so.
  • Perform the dust test: Anything that’s got a thick layer of dust on it is probably something that can go into storage without the risk of being missed.

After you know what you plan on keeping, be sure to pack the things you are storing logically, don’t just throw everything into a box. By packing things in an organized manner and labeling boxes, you’ll make it much easier to find something.

Using the convenience offered by self-storage can really help keep your corporate home organized. When you get a new tenant, that last thing you want is for them to have an unsatisfactory experience. Instead, try putting your unused items in cheap storage units that not only help cut down on the visual chaos of a messy house, but also give you an opportunity to take a mental break from unnecessary stress.

This article was written by Matt Schexnayder. Matt is on the SpareFoot marketing team and writes for the SpareFoot blog. SpareFoot is the largest online marketplace for self-storage with more than 5,000 self-storage facilities listed nationwide.

This article was contributed by Sparefoot. By publishing this article, CHBO does not make any endorsement or recommendation of the products or services promoted in this article.