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CorporateHousingbyOwner.com Reveals Findings from 2011 "By Owner" Corporate Housing Survey

Landlords Optimistic about Profits in 2012; DIY Landlording is on the Rise

January 20, 2012 (Denver, Colorado) - Furnished housing landlords say they are optimistic about their future profitability, reports the third annual By Owner Corporate Housing survey sponsored by CorporateHousingbyOwner.com (CHBO), an online marketplace dedicated to connecting individual property owners offering short-term furnished and unfurnished rentals with potential tenants worldwide. The purpose of the survey is to provide key insights into the do-it-yourself or "by owner" - corporate housing marketplace.

The survey found that nearly 40% of corporate rental landlords say they believe 2012 will be a "more profitable year." Plus, despite continued news about the declining housing market and global recession, still more than 50% of the survey respondents say they made a profit on their rental properties in 2011 while 35% say they only broke even.

Additionally, the survey reports that do-it-yourself (DIY) property management is on the rise. In fact, more than 86% of the survey respondents say they do their own property management rather than using outside resources, a slight increase from last year.

Kimberly Smith, the founder of CorporateHousingbyOwner.com, says DIY landlording is nothing new, but obviously an increasingly popular option these days.

"The prolonged recession compounded by unlimited access to resources online has exploded the do-it-yourself landlording world," says Smith. "My hope is that this report will continue to help 'by owner' corporate housing landlords become more educated, knowledgeable and profitable as it allows them to deep-dive into emerging rental trends and how such trends will impact them personally."

Other key findings from the survey include:

Rental rates stable. Likely a sign of a still-slumping economy, landlords of short-term rentals say they did not raise their rental rates in 2011. Approximately 62% of respondents say they offered the same rates in 2011 as they did in 2010, while only approximately 22% say they raised their rates and 16% lowered them.

Corporate housing has gone to the 'burbs. Counterintuitive to previous corporate housing trends where properties were located in "city centers," according to the majority of private corporate rentals who responded to this survey, "by owner" corporate rentals tend to be located in suburban areas on residential streets (43%), followed by outer urban areas (22%) and then central urban areas (20%).

You've Got Pets. Many long-term business travelers are arriving with pets in tow. Fifty percent of survey respondents say they accept some type of pet in their corporate rental. Why? Of those who accept pets, about 69% say they take pets because it "gets their properties rented."

To download a free copy of the 2011 By Owner Corporate Housing Report, please visit CorporateHousingbyOwner.com.

About Corporate Housing by Owner (CHBO)

CHBO was founded in 2006 out of a need to connect private homeowners and real estate investors offering furnished, short-term rentals with corporate housing seekers such as traveling executives, relocated professionals, traveling nurses, actors, athletes and more. The company provides individual homeowners and investors resources and guidance to help them strategically manage their corporate housing rental properties as well as exposes their properties to thousands of potential tenants worldwide who are seeking short-term housing options. Please visit CorporateHousingbyOwner.com for more information.

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