Corporate Rental Archives

December 28, 2018 CHBO General, Corporate Housing, Ideas & Tips, Vacation Rentals Post a Comment

New Year’s Eve Party in Small Apartment?

Whether your idea of a “big” New Year’s Eve party involves a large number of guests and loads of food or you mean a party with a “big” attitude, lots of music and a very late night (that might even see you still celebrating as the sun rises), you need to know how to make it work in a smaller corporate apartment rental.

After all, an apartment rental agreement or corporate apartment contract may mean you have to be very aware of your neighbors or the neighborhood. You may not be able to use a lot of parking on the premises, limiting the number of guests.You may even have to meet limits on the number of people in the apartment itself.

So, how do you host that big party if you are worried about upsetting your landlord or neighbors and putting your apartment rental at risk? The good news is that it is much easier than you might imagine, even if your corporate apartment is a tiny space.

Here are our expert tips for enjoying that Big New Year’s Eve Party in that smaller apartment:

Begin at 9PM – As the baby bear in the classic fairy tale would say, this hour is “just right”. Not too early that everyone gets too tipsy or bored and not so late in the game that you feel the party ends as it just begins.
Make it BYOB – If you ask people to bring their own alcohol, it is likely that very few people will become tipsy, let alone rowdy. Go ahead and tip a glass of champagne for a midnight toast but keep things low-key by limiting alcohol consumption in your apartment rental.
Play music and the TV – Make sure anyone who wants to see the ball drop can do so, and watch the events leading up to it,but also be sure you have some good music playing throughout the night. You may not want lots of dance music that upsets the neighbors, but some background tunes make for good conversation and sweet slow dancing.
Have a cutoff time – If you are in a corporate apartment and invite a small crowd, clearly state that the party ends at 1AM, AND be sure you have a local cab or private car service ready to take tipsy friends and colleagues’ home.

You can do a New Year’s Eve party that feels big but is small and doesn’t even disturb the neighbors!

September 10, 2018 CHBO General, Corporate Housing Post a Comment

Virtual Tours and Your Corporate Rental

Do you know how to properly photograph your fully furnished rentals to their best advantage? Most property owners are unfamiliar with the long list of tips and tricks that can make even a small room look amazing. While we don’t recommend that you ever try to use a bit of visual trickery to enhance the appearance of a corporate rental (as this could lead to a negative review), we strongly urge anyone with fully furnished rentals to do their best to photograph them effectively.

It is why CHBO offers clients access to professional photographers for their corporate rental listings, and why virtual tours are also strongly recommended. In fact, you can use the site as your one-stop resource for the best photos and YouTube and online videos that give website visitors a virtual tour of the entire property.

Is it worth the effort? In an article from a few years ago, we mentioned that “81% of U.S. tenants use Virtual Tours as a resource when they are considering a rental property. And that only 15% tour the property in-person.” In that same article, we went over the reasons that your property listings for fully furnished rentals shouldn’t really be considered complete without that sort of enhanced view of the property.

Online Open House

As we pointed out, not all potential renters have the ability to pay a real world visit. In fact, since you are offering a corporate rental, the renter may be hundreds or even thousands of miles away. The use of the virtual tour gives them a very realistic experience of a walk through, and allows them to get an accurate feel of the entire space.

This could be the key to having your fully furnished rentals booked more regularly than listings with only a few static, still shots. In the article on virtual tours, we explained that you could use a smartphone or video device to do your own walk through and then just use the YouTube site to create a link to your tour. You can also use dedicated apps that offer panoramic views.

The point here is that whether you choose the DIY options with apps or rely on the full services of a firm like CHBO, it is important to use virtual tours for any corporate rental. Give yourself a bit of an advantage, let your clients get a more accurate experience of the property, and see how just that little bit of time and effort can really pay off with more frequent rentals.

May 21, 2018 CHBO General, Cities Post a Comment

Should You Market Your Corporate Rental to Homeowners?

In one of our articles from a few years ago, we addressed the issue of whether your homeowners insurance would pay for extended stay lodging in the event your home became unlivable. The long and short if it was that not all insurers do provide this coverage, but since that time many have added such provisions.

After all, with more and more areas experiencing extremes in weather, more and more homes are damaged by flood, fire, water and wind or lightning. This can sometimes force homeowners out for lengthy periods while repairs are made (up to six months at a time).

So, if you rent your furnished property as a corporate rental, it makes good sense to consider a bit of niche marketing towards homeowners and even insurance agents who offer policies through companies that cover extended stays. And of course, now is the perfect time to consider this new avenue as the summer season is right around the corner, and it is unfortunately the “season for water damage”.

Weather and Your Corporate Rental

Just consider that homeowners may need access to an extended stay due to damages to their home from a severe summer storm (rain, hail, wind, lightning, etc.), due to accidental flooding issues while they were on vacation (burst pipes, plumbing issues, and so on), and ground water problems that cause flooding inside of the home. If you rent your furnished property, it could be precisely the situation a standard household needs after their own home becomes uninhabitable.

This is even more the case if your corporate rental is one that has adequate accommodations for children and families with pets. The property is “turnkey” with the appliances and setting ideally suited to a family suddenly without a home. You can rent your furnished property as a home away from home to a family rather than as a corporate rental and earn the same income since the stay is paid for by insurance coverage.

Marketing Your Corporate Rental

Of course, you may want to know how to rent your furnished property to this unique group. The good news is that it is quite easy when you rely on the CHBO site to support all of your marketing efforts. Insurance providers are already looking into a corporate rental for some policy holders, and you can also get in touch with all of your area insurance agencies to alert them to the fact that you do rent your furnished property to more than corporate clients.

It is not at all difficult to develop new potential streams of income for your corporate rental, and homeowners in need of extended stay options may be that untapped market you have been needing.