Success Story! West Hollywood Homeowner Rents Out Guesthouse as Corporate Rental and Finds Sweet Success

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Published Date: 2013-01-10

Todd Hunter, a building manager of a 10-unit apartment building, decided to add “landlord” to his resume. In 2012, he bought a duplex with a back guesthouse in West Hollywood, California. His plan was to rent out the guesthouse to supplement his monthly mortgage payment. After closing on the property, one of Todd’s friends recommended that he furnish the guest house and rent it out as a corporate rental in lieu of a standard rental. “I honestly hadn't even considered renting it out as a furnished rental because it’s not a particularly common thing in West Hollywood, at least to my knowledge,” says Todd. “However, after doing some research online and speaking with a few other building owners, I felt more comfortable with the process and knew it was the right course for me.” During Todd’s reconnaissance mission to learn all about the furnished housing business, he learned about Corporate Housing by Owner (CHBO) from another owner. The other owner told him that he could make more money with a furnished rental than a standard rental. “I ran the [rental] numbers and realized they are certainly higher for furnished rentals than for unfurnished ones. Of course I preferred the extra income and the chance to meet more new people, plus I lived in the house next door so it would be easy for me to handle the turnover,” he adds. Todd says he spent some “serious time” on the CHBO website, reading all the materials he could find. He said that he felt CHBO would be his “strongest option” at getting quality tenants and making some money.