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 - pictured below) 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."
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