Rental Property Investor · Estes Park, CO · Member since 2017 · 283 posts · 1k+ votes
If you are doing multiple renters under one shared roof w/common living areas like a kitchen/etc, then do yourself, your investing dreams, and your renters a MASSIVE FAVOR by learning & implementing coliving property management. There is almost no understanding of CPM out there- Did you know several multimillion dollar coliving start-ups have FAILED b/c they saw the demand for coliving w/out seeing the need for a workable form of coliving property management (see HubHaus, Common, Starling, etc). I've developed, use with all my coliving properties, and teach HPM (household-led property management). This is a form of coliving property management that fits rent-by-the-room coliving environments, but it would not fit other coliving environments (i.e. an apartment). Note I 100% know that CPM is not LTR PM with a few tweaks- I have lived and practiced this for over two decades. It's also not STR PM with a few tweaks- as this might fit a boarding house. CPM is a completely different type of PM, like LTR PM is different from STR PM. Once you've re-read what I mean by CPM (coliving property management), I'd love to hear from who else out there has developed their own CPM, or who else out there sees the need for a separate PM strategy for coliving properties? Let's pool our knowledge and experience and see if we can learn from each other! I am so looking forward to hearing from you all :)
We recently started offering coliving property management in St Petersburg, Florida (in addition to our portfolio of long term rentals), and I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "the importance of household" or what you mean by "household-led property management".
These are interesting buzzwords, but I actually don't think there's a fundamental 180-degree difference between coliving, mid-term, and long-term property management.
Our role as a property manager is to:
1) Put the right people in the units; Meaning well-qualified applicants who have stable income/employment, positive rental, credit, eviction, and criminal records, and are a good fit for the property, while staying within the scope of fair housing laws.
2) Minimize vacancy and turnover
3) Maximize rent and rent collections (and provide the tech to make this painless and easy for tenants and owners)
4) Maintain the property and curb appeal (and provide the tech and staff to make maintenance responsive and relatively painless).
These goals are the same for LTR, MTR, and coliving.
So I'm genuinely curious where "foster the household's sense of community" or whatever falls on your list of priorities, and what are the specific things you are doing to make this happen?
Don't get me wrong: It's wonderful that your tenants give each other rides and bring each other soup when they are sick. But I'd argue this is just the nature of living with good people (and my job as a coliving property manager is to put those good people in place). It's not something we taught them or fostered as their property manager.
@Grant Shipman you may want to remove this line, "I've developed, use with all my coliving properties, and teach HPM (household-led property management)" as it appears to be self-promotion.
@Grant Shipman Common has just merged with Habyt. Why did they fail?
And others that have been going bankrupt like Starcity were more because of COVID and ending in cashflow problems because of the decreased occupancies.
I'm not following your reasoning here to be honest.
And btw, there are some specific coliving property management softwares: booking ninja, resharmonics, housemonk, etc.
Being a coliving provider, is it not best to just focus on being a good coliving provider instead of setting up your own software? Being a coliving provider already brings enough work. This is just some thinking out of my head
Iv'e done the same thing for senior living. Definitely not for everyone, but an awesome idea for affordable or attainable housing.
I'd love to hear your experience- when did you start, what got you interested? how many properties do you have currently and how did you choose/develop your PM protocols?
@Grant Shipman Common has just merged with Habyt. Why did they fail?
And others that have been going bankrupt like Starcity were more because of COVID and ending in cashflow problems because of the decreased occupancies.
I'm not following your reasoning here to be honest.
And btw, there are some specific coliving property management softwares: booking ninja, resharmonics, housemonk, etc.
Being a coliving provider, is it not best to just focus on being a good coliving provider instead of setting up your own software? Being a coliving provider already brings enough work. This is just some thinking out of my head
Hi- great to ready your message. Sorry for any way I was confusing- I'll try to clarify. By fail, I do not mean to mean they went bankrupt. Common pivoted to having a massive part of their portfolio be non-coliving spaces, and the articles out about them and how they managed their coliving houses were and are quite atrocious. Personally, I believe blaming covid is BLAME (being lazy and making excuses). My properties were maxed out during COVID, no one was behind on rent, and the households super bonded together- coliving properties both during COVID and historically during outbreaks over the counties and centures have done the best. They do the best b/c they are safe supportive housing, where during outbreaks many people are isolated. During COVID I had the following happen in the households I manage:
1) one house member loses their job and their immediately get a job b/c another house member's job needed someone.
2) one house member got sick, so other house members pitched in to do their chores and cook their food and deliver it to their room so they could stay healthy, quarantined, and socially supported.
3) one house member had their car breakdown, so other house members helped them w/rides to the mechanic.
COVID was not a challenge to well run coliving places that had prepared financially. COVID was a time when coliving people could really shine- their tenants have a KEY type of wealth, social network. Coliving PM's also have other key advantages like: 1) getting away with charging less; 2) having multiple rent checks to one roof; 3) month to month leases to avoid eviction moratoriums; 4) and uniquely being able to give inspiring leadership and togetherness resources to their residents. Maybe like Warren Buffet says, "A rising tide floats all boats…..only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked."
My observation in 2018/2019 was all these companies TALKED A GOOD GAME but none of them spoke of the importance of household and the unique needs of coliving property management. I spoke w/many of them, and they simply managed the properties like LTR or STR.
I had checked out the software you mentioned, but I relooked at them just to update myself:
booking ninja: this was and still seems specifically for STR/boarding houses (and even offer more flexibility but is nonetheless short term)unless I am mistaken. They have killer sweet pricing though! I've got to suggest this to my wife to possibly replace her Airbnb software.
resharmonics: this starts at $500+ which is rough, but the key here is I don't see anything specific to household. As they advertize, it's for short and long term coliving, and there doesn't seem to be anything specific to long term besides they stay a longer time (similar to Airbnb 4wk+ stays). Please lmk if I'm missing anything here?
housemonk- cool this one is new to me. I'll have to read more. So far the $1800 starter pricing seems rough. They also seem to be just like resharmonics above in not taking household systems into considerations. However, it does seems that they offer more robust features than Resharmonics at first glimpse.
In regards to creating software OR solely giving ourselves to being good coliving PM's, I totally agree with you. However, I think us pioneers in this would, after making sure we are good PM's ourselves, look to improve by learning from others and add to the big discussion to get appropriate PM system or software that is designed from the beginning from coliving PM (rather than being a few tweaks away from STR or LTR PM'ing).
We recently started offering coliving property management in St Petersburg, Florida (in addition to our portfolio of long term rentals), and I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "the importance of household" or what you mean by "household-led property management".
These are interesting buzzwords, but I actually don't think there's a fundamental 180-degree difference between coliving, mid-term, and long-term property management.
Our role as a property manager is to:
1) Put the right people in the units; Meaning well-qualified applicants who have stable income/employment, positive rental, credit, eviction, and criminal records, and are a good fit for the property, while staying within the scope of fair housing laws.
2) Minimize vacancy and turnover
3) Maximize rent and rent collections (and provide the tech to make this painless and easy for tenants and owners)
4) Maintain the property and curb appeal (and provide the tech and staff to make maintenance responsive and relatively painless).
These goals are the same for LTR, MTR, and coliving.
So I'm genuinely curious where "foster the household's sense of community" or whatever falls on your list of priorities, and what are the specific things you are doing to make this happen?
Don't get me wrong: It's wonderful that your tenants give each other rides and bring each other soup when they are sick. But I'd argue this is just the nature of living with good people (and my job as a coliving property manager is to put those good people in place). It's not something we taught them or fostered as their property manager.
@Grant Shipman you may want to remove this line, "I've developed, use with all my coliving properties, and teach HPM (household-led property management)" as it appears to be self-promotion.
Thanks Drew- thankfully the moderator got back to my message earlier today and said everything about it is great and apologized for the error.
Hey Grant, I have 3 properties that I rent by rooms and I have desperately been looking for someone to manage them. I feel like I have good systems in place, but I just don't want to spend the time managing them anymore. I'd be happy to connect and work together in the future!
We recently started offering coliving property management in St Petersburg, Florida (in addition to our portfolio of long term rentals), and I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "the importance of household" or what you mean by "household-led property management".
These are interesting buzzwords, but I actually don't think there's a fundamental 180-degree difference between coliving, mid-term, and long-term property management.
Our role as a property manager is to:
1) Put the right people in the units; Meaning well-qualified applicants who have stable income/employment, positive rental, credit, eviction, and criminal records, and are a good fit for the property, while staying within the scope of fair housing laws.
2) Minimize vacancy and turnover
3) Maximize rent and rent collections (and provide the tech to make this painless and easy for tenants and owners)
4) Maintain the property and curb appeal (and provide the tech and staff to make maintenance responsive and relatively painless).
These goals are the same for LTR, MTR, and coliving.
So I'm genuinely curious where "foster the household's sense of community" or whatever falls on your list of priorities, and what are the specific things you are doing to make this happen?
Don't get me wrong: It's wonderful that your tenants give each other rides and bring each other soup when they are sick. But I'd argue this is just the nature of living with good people (and my job as a coliving property manager is to put those good people in place). It's not something we taught them or fostered as their property manager.
Oh Dude! I wish I and everyone else I've spoken w/had and has your experience. Seriously I'm not being sarcastic- I'm genuinely impressed. Anyone I talk to whether they say it up from or they later reveal it to me, they have tremendous issues w/turnover, property damage, and cotenant conflict.
I love your priorities- I agree w/you that these are the priorities of any PMC. However, the SOP's/Systems/Etc to have these play out become different. For example, my wife who does STR PM has systems in place to help each new renter find the property, she then helps them understand specifics that are new to vacationers (the mountains and the winter are not what everyone is use to), she has a system in place to get them new towels if they run out, and responding to a broken water heater is important but different in STR vs LTR. Then of course there are the different taxes and regulations to stay on top of. LTR shares the same priorities that you listed, but they share none of the things I just mentioned for my wife with an STR PM.
In regards to the terms I mentioned referring to household, they are essential in my experience. When strangers move in together sharing the same kitchen/etc, then they do not have an established household system ("how do we live together") and they do not have the pre-established relationships to sustain them while they are establishing a household system. For that matter, plenty of people who share a lease eventually establish their household systems but it's unhealthy- and everyone can't wait for the lease to end.
I love your priorities, so I'll respond to each how a complete household system and a property management that does some sort of CPM tha supports this system serves these essential PM priorities:
1) The Right People: a complete household system attracts the right people and repels the people that would cause problems (even if they have clean records).
2) Minimize Vacancy/TO: a complete household system is one where people want to move in and stay there for years and years, rather than merely stay there until they can afford to do otherwise. My residents stay an average of 5 years or more.
3) Max Rent: a complete household system enables one to charge a bit higher than rent by the room rates b/c it offers a bit more and is more valuable to renters.
4) Maintain a Wonderful Property: a complete household system gives house-members helpful systems on what to do when maintenance is needed, who in the house will manage when the technician visits, the residents loves when the PM does a monthly walk through their common areas, there's always someone handy living there who knows to check under the sink for leaks, and the housemembers know who is going to change the HVAC filter and when and keeps cleaning even.
I hope I explained that all. I'd love to hear your thoughts and to hear why you think your experience has been the outlier (I would love to learn from you).
Hey Grant, I have 3 properties that I rent by rooms and I have desperately been looking for someone to manage them. I feel like I have good systems in place, but I just don't want to spend the time managing them anymore. I'd be happy to connect and work together in the future!
Hi Ben- congrats on what you've accomplished. I totally know what you mean. In 2018, I hired and trained a person to run my PMC b/c the PMC's in the area did not know how to manager a coliving property (except for the college rentals, and those were gross). If I can help you brainstorm how to train someone or hire a PMC, I'm available. For my PMC to expand to a new area, I need at least 6 properties, so I don't know if my PMC could expand out there but maybe there's even that potential. Congrats again on this stage that you've gotten to- what are you wanting to put your time into once you free up your time from landlording?
