Seattle Couples Converts Mother-in-Law Suite into Furnished Rental and Makes $10k Per Year!

In July 2003, Colleen Cameron and her soon-to-be-husband, Michael, were looking to buy a house in the North Shoreline area of Seattle. While house-hunting for their dream house the couple stumbled upon a beautiful chateau that had everything they wanted… and then some.

“It just so happened that the house we fell in love with also offered great income-producing potential as it had an 800 sq. ft. mother-in-law suite in the basement,� says Colleen.

After the married coupled settled into their new home, they decided that rather than rent out their mother-in-law suite as a “regular� rental (which was plentiful in their area already), they would convert their mother-in-law suite into a furnished, corporate rental. They spent about $4,000 to finish the basement and convert it into a full-fledged rental property.

“We knew by offering our mother-in-law suite as a furnished, short-term rental, we could reach a different niche and have less competition in the rental marketplace,� says Colleen. “Plus, furnishing the property was easy since we both brought furnishings into the marriage – we had two of everything so we were able to furnish our downstairs apartment without spending a lot on furnishings.�

To find renters, the couple lists their mother-in-law suite on Craigslist.org and CorporateHousingbyOwner.com – both sites, say Colleen, have brought her solid leads, although she says with Craigslist the process is more manual because she has to post her property daily. With CorporateHousingbyOwner, she says, her listing is always front-and-center.

“In five years of renting out our furnished mother-in-law suite, we have only had one month with no renter,� she says. “In fact, our most successful renter stayed for two years. He was a divorcee who needed flexible housing to get him through his life transition.�

Benefits Galore

Colleen says that there are many great benefits to renting out part of their home as a corporate rental.

For one, she says she is able to command a higher rent because the basement apartment is fully furnished and offers flexible month-to-month rental terms. Colleen says her mother-in-law suite has been so profitable that she has been able to supplement her family’s income by about $10,000 per year, with the potential to bring in more.

“Renting out a part of your home is definitely worth doing if you have a basement apartment with a separate entrance,� says Colleen. “The main reason is you can instantly diversify your income stream. While my husband and I are gainfully employed, there’s always the risk that one or both of us could lose our job. We have this extra income to fall back on, just in case.�

Also, Colleen says she enjoys not being tied to any one renter for 12 or more months in case things didn’t work out. She also likes the fact that her renters only bring along their necessities and that they don’t move large furniture in and out of her basement, which means less wear and tear on her home.

Another huge benefit to renting out her basement suite, Colleen says, is that she lives on-site. “I can conveniently take care of requests and keep an eye on the place.�

Plus, because the couple is already paying for amenities like cable, water, electricity, trash, wireless Internet, etc., it doesn’t cost them a whole lot extra to provide amenities to the basement apartment.

“We’re able to offer our home at a low, all-inclusive rental rate because we don’t incur a lot of extra fees ourselves,� says Colleen.

A Word to the Wise

Colleen says that renting out a furnished apartment isn’t for everyone.

“You do have someone living in your house and you have to continually be on the look out for your next renter,� says Colleen. “It can be time-consuming to market your home.�

She also advises that someone shouldn’t buy a home with a mother-in-law suite unless they can afford the full mortgage payments themselves.

“We are fortunate that we can afford our mortgage. Any income we make from the mother-in-law suite is a bonus. I tell people looking to do what I’m doing to make sure they’re not dependent on income from their rental suite because they’re putting themselves at unnecessary risk.�

Overall, Colleen says because they have found so much success renting out a part of their home they may never go back to not renting it out. “It’s a peace of mind for us. We don’t have to think twice about money since we supplement our income with our greatest asset – our home!�

San Francisco Couple Invests in Second Property in Texas to be Closer to their New Grandson

Janie Perez and her husband happily live in San Francisco – although they miss their grown children dearly. Their son was living in San Antonio with his wife and a baby on the way.

Perez decided to buy an investment property – a condo – in San Antonio. It would be her second home – a home away from home – where she could comfortably stay during her frequent visits to the area. Also, because her condo was vacant much of the year, she figured she could make some extra income on the property by renting it out between visits.

"We advertised our property in the newspaper and online and didn’t like the feedback nor quality of tenants we were getting. We talked with a Realtor and a property management company and they recommended we try CorporateHousingbyOwner.com," she says.

CorporateHousingbyOwner.com is a website that helps private landlords market their furnished, short-term rentals to corporate housing tenants.

Immediately upon listing her property on CorporateHousingbyOwner.com (property ID #2986), Perez found a tenant – a business executive visiting the area for a temporary work assignment. She says that since signing up with CorporateHousingbyOwner.com, the property has been occupied by a string of high quality renters. “It’s barely vacant!� she says.

"We're getting 3-5 rental inquiries per month, more than enough to keep it rented 9-10 months out of the year," she says. "When the condo is vacant, we seize the opportunity to visit our son and new grandson without having to stay in a hotel or burden my son and his family."

Even though Perez lives hundreds of miles away, she says the Internet has made it possible for her to manage the property by herself. "I'm able to do everything online including the application, verification and contract processes," she says.

One of Perez's strategies is to motivate the lessee to treat the condo well.

"We tell them if they leave their condo as tidy as they found it, they get their full $500 deposit back. We have been able to return the deposit to everyone we've rented it to and our condo is always in immaculate condition when we return," she says. "You can hardly tell anyone has lived there."

CorporateHousingbyOwner.com has made the process so easy for Perez that she says she decided to purchase another investment property in Austin, Texas (property ID #5312) so she and her husband could visit their daughter, who lived in the area at the time (although her daughter has since moved).

Perez says she listed the Austin condo on CorporateHousingbyOwner.com on a Monday and by Friday her first lease deal was signed and she had the deposit and first month’s rent in hand!

"CorporateHousingbyOwner.com has helped us keep our place continuously rented, cover our mortgage and maintenance costs, and has given us a place to visit and feel at home for few months out of the year," says Perez. "It has been well worth the investment."

Read case studies of other homeowners finding success with CHBO on our website.

I'm not sure.. Maybe I could try.

What properties work for corporate housing? Who rents corporate housing? Is the marketing going up or down? What don't I know? These are normally the first questions I get if I am talking to a reporter, a business associate or a property owner. Mostly I just like to answer with stories. I also like to tell about the stories that most people don't think about.

Renters - Last week an insurance company needed a new home because a family's home heating oil leaked and their home is going through an environmental cleanup. This week a new mother-to-be needed a place for her parents when they visit when the baby is born. Find other stories: http://www.corporatehousingbyowner.com/corporate-housing/Testimonials

Property Owners - This week we posted a new case study about a couple who bought their dream condo 3000 miles away and needed income to keep it.
Find other stories: http://www.corporatehousingbyowner.com/corporate-housing/Owner%27s%20Experiences

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Managing a successful corporate rental from out of state

From time to time we'd like to share some of our customer stories with you. Here is a story about a determined homeowner in California who found success renting out her part-time condo in Phoenix.

Corporate Housing Helps Phoenix Homeowner Build Equity and Still Enjoy a Home Away from Home Too!


In 2006, when the building industry was at its peak and the economy in good shape, Marlene Johnson and her husband decided to buy a condo in Phoenix (about 10 miles outside of Tempe, Arizona). They visited the area often because their daughter lived there and they saw a ripe investment opportunity.

Marlene fully furnished and beautifully decorated the Phoenix condo, which includes travertine floors, stainless steel appliances and gleaming granite countertops. The location was perfect too – just a few miles from downtown with easy access to the freeways.

However, the couple needed their Phoenix condo to be rented out part of the year in order for them to make their mortgage payments. The couple was feeling the financial heat as they had recently bought a larger home in Woodland Hills, California.

As luck would have it, Marlene was able to rent her Phoenix home to friend of a friend for several years – but when that tenant no longer needed their home, they decided to list it on Craigslist and with a local Realtor – sadly they got no bites.

Landlords Get Creative When Times are Tough

Not one to sit idle, Marlene decided to get creative and began doing a little research online. There she found CorporateHousingbyOwner.com (CHBO), an online portal that enables homeowners to list and market their fully furnished properties to corporate housing executives and others seeking fully furnished, temporary rentals. After speaking with the company’s co-founder and with several of CHBO’s customers, she was convinced to give CHBO a try.

Within hours of listing her property (ID #3092) on CHBO, she had her first inquiry – a Fortune 500 company that wanted to rent her condo to an intern for the entire summer. Not only that, but she was able to get a great rate for the property too!

“CHBO has been a wonderful resource for getting exposure in the Phoenix market, even when the heat is on!� she says, ecstatic that her property was rented during a season when there are less visitors to the area.

She said after her summer tenant moved out, she elected for a CHBO "sponsored ad," which spotlighted her property on the CHBO homepage; again, within hours, she got a call from a new tenant who stayed in her property for another month!

Managing a Long-Distance Property is ..

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