Do you offer laundromat service?

Question

I saw this at Lowes scratch and dent and wondered when might it make sense?

Robert Leonard · Answer

J. Martin I have none in place and I don't plan to buy any.  It was a bank repo/sheriff's sale purchase and there were none in place at the time of my purchase.

Robert Leonard · Answer

I have a laundry room at the complex I bought recently, but I don't plan to use it.  I know it can be a revenue generator like J. Martin describes, but we had the hardest time keeping Soldiers from destroying them in the military and those are supposed to be disciplined people that are under as much "control" as people will ever be.  How on Earth am I going to get civilians to appreciate them and take care of them?  Maybe my military experience has me biased, but I just don't see it as worth the problems.  I am also dealing with a class C property, so I'm sure they work in the right places, just not this one.

Wade Sikkink · Answer

We have a coin laundry in our 14 plex. Its currently $1 per load and brings in around $80 or so per week. I've been researching how to change the coin slot because I'm going to be raising it to $1.50 soon. That will up the take to $120 per week and its to only laundry facility in town so they can't go somewhere else. I love it, but might not be as good on a smaller property.

Derek Knorr · Answer

We have coin-op in our 4-plex and they bring in about $60/mo.  Seeing the rates others are using listed in this post makes me realize I need to check out the local Laundromat to see what they charge.  These came with the place when I bought it a year ago, and they are set at $0.50 and $0.75.

In general, I have found that they more than pay for all my building gas and electricity on a monthly basis.

Chris M. · Answer

Must be a chain-wide clearance. I just saw the same set of coin-op washer/dryer on the scratch and dent section in Lowes in South FL. I think it was a bit cheaper here though.

If I had the room, this would be going into my latest quad. Some of the figures I have been seeing for some other quads I've been looking into seem to all be around the $100/mth mark for revenue.

Dennis Gavilanes · Answer

Hi all, and happy new year,

I have a coin operated  Laundromat in my building for the last 20 years, my latest move with the last rent increase was to add a flat fee for unlimited  use of the Laundromat without coins  and my tenants love it. ( my tenants were informed  before the lease expired and all agreed)

Is working great for everybody

Dennis

Roy N. · Answer

@Jon Klaus

I have a set I would give you if you were closer.

We've taken coin-op machines out of all our smaller (1-5) unit properties in lieu of en suite laundry.  Our experience was the extra cost of the coin-op machines, the utilities consumed and the damage/abuse they received pretty much consumed any revenue generated.   We found placing machines in each unit puts the utilities in the hands of the tenants and makes it easy to identify any abuse to the machinery ... it also allows us to use better, lower priced, equipment.

Now, in the larger buildings, its a different story - we have machines supplied by a local company on a revenue share arrangement.

J. Martin · Answer

@Robert Leonard , do you have problems with the high-efficiency front load washer/dryers? Or the "old school" top-load washer with front load dryer (can be energy efficient, but are different than the HE front-load).

Were they new or used when you had problems with them? I'm hoping I won't have any issues when my handyman moves in, because he can have more debris on his  clothes...

It depends on the area about tenant expectations, but I think it definitely helps  reduce vacancy and make the rent more firm..

Pete T. · Answer

@Jon Klaus , great post.  Thinking about doing the same thing in a triplex we have because it is the biggest issue everytime we have a unit vacant.

Rick Baggenstoss · Answer

@Jon Klaus I was debating how to best handle this for a two-story rehab on a quadplex.  I understand common washer/dryers are common in town Atlanta ... even in a duplex.

At $2 per load x 1.5 per wk per tenant x 52 wks ... the payback is ok. However, I can see getting slightly higher rent if your using otherwise unusable common space and saving premium livable space for living.  Also you have slightly lower maintenance with fewer pipes, etc.  Not bad for a mid-priced duplex, but very good for a triplex+.

Love to hear more thoughts.

Rick