Should you allow week-long stays in a corporate housing rental?
Admin
Published Date: 2009-05-27
From time to time you may be asked by a potential renter if you would be willing to rent out your property for a week-long stay – and usually those booking for week-long stays are looking to book for a future date. While most corporate housing stays are at least a month long, if not longer, it’s not uncommon for corporate housing owners to be approached with this question. So should you do it? The answer to this question is “yes” and “no.” YES – You should consider pre-booking week-long stays if your property is located in a market that is prime for vacation renters. During certain times of the year (tourist season), offering your property as a weekly vacation rental may help you capitalize on greater income potential because weekly rentals charge more than monthly rentals. You should only do this if you feel comfortable that any advance booking you take won’t deter potential long-term corporate housing renters. NO – If your market is not in prime vacation rental territory, then I would advise against offering it for anything less than a 30-day rental for advanced bookings (a month or more in advance). The true formula for annual revenue success in the corporate rental business is occupancy and this is best achieved through longer-term tenants of one month or more. If you secure a week-long rental, you might tie-up your property and thereby prohibit a future renter from staying in your property for the long-term. Many corporate renters give little advance notice and need to see immediate availability. And remember, longer rentals means less wear and tear on your property too, so it often makes good business sense to stick with longer-term rental strategy. Did You Know? About 50% of all tenant leads generated from CorporateHousingbyOwner.com were for rentals of 90 days or greater! In fact, 15% of the CHBO leads were for a year-long or more rental and 35% were for 4-11 month-long rentals, well above industry average.
