Denver businessman Douglas Black found himself simultaneously carrying two mortgage payments on the two Denver condominiums he owned. He was trying to sell the one he was living in so he could move into the new one he bought and renovated. But after trying to sell his condo for five months with no buyers in sight, Black decided he needed to get creative.
With the condo already furnished and staged to sell, Doug knew it would be difficult to rent it out as a traditional, unfurnished rental. But as a long-time businessman, Doug had been familiar corporate rentals, or fully-furnished properties available for temporary rent.
Doug decided to try his hand at becoming a do-it-yourself corporate housing landlord. After conducting a bit of research online, Doug found CorporateHousingbyOwner.com, a website that enabled him, along with other private homeowners, to list and market his fully-furnished short-term rental property to potential corporate housing seekers.
Almost immediately upon listing his condo for rent (property ID #1813), Doug landed a year-long lease with a relocated Quiznos executive. After that, Doug experienced a number of other shorter-term tenants that found him after seeing his listing on CorporateHousingbyOwner.com.
Doug says that corporate housing has been a good way for him to offset his costs during this recession. "Ideally I would have liked to have sold my condo right away but that just wasn't happening with this continued housing market slump."
"For now I'm finding that renting out my condo as corporate housing has enabled me to off-set my costs and hold on to the property until the right buyer comes along and until the market improves," says Doug "Also the type of clientele that are searching for this kind of housing tend to be people that are in and out of town a lot. I feel that creates less wear and tear on the property. And if it's a corporation that stands behind the renter, I feel like the renter will be responsible towards the property - which is a huge bonus!"
Doug adds that he will continue to try and sell his condo but always advises potential renters that the unit will be "for-sale" while they are renting it. "I haven't had anyone mind that the unit remains for-sale because most of my tenants only need a place to stay for a short while. Plus, everyone can sympathize with my plight because they all know just how difficult it is to sell a home these days," he says.
