Corporate Housing By Owner (CHBO)
Insurance Agent · AZ · Member since 2013 · 306 posts · 161 votes
I just came across this site that may be beneficial to those of you who have rentals that you may want to rent out to corporate clients:
My experience with Corporate Housing By Owner.com
I tried CHBO out for 6months. 5 units listed at $129 per month. I would get inquires every once in a while but only booked one resident thru the site and that was during the last 2 weeks of my 6 month agreement. I did get weekly phone calls from exotic vacation holiday - seems they use chbo’s site to generate their leads - trying to get you to post on their site. Those people do not give up either - block the call and they just call from another one the next week.
CHBO made a judgement call (without consulting me first) to remove my contact info and replace with CHBO’s contact info. Not with regards to my actually listing on their site but if you select the option on CHBO site to broadcast your listings for you it posts to zillow - which then zillow broadcasts it to trulia & hotpads. I was told by CHBO they did this because of the sales calls from exotic vacation holiday harassing their clients. I only found out about them removing my contact info when checking on my listing in zillow and noticed some guys name and # that wasn’t mine.
The contact info listed on my units was going to a rep w CHBO. I called it and he didn’t answer. Next day I called again - no answer just VM again. Third day, a Friday I went ahead and left a message and he responded but not until the following monday. I also sent an inquiry thru zillow as if I was interested in renting - a response came 3 days after my inquiry. My issue was, I prefer to take the calls that come in especially being the number it was going to was not reacting to the leads as fast as I could.
Another issue was my units where being posted as 1bd’s (not 2bd’s) on their “search by major cities” page. I kept getting responses from tech support that they where not seeing what I was seeing and recall the guy saying “not to worry as most don’t search this way anyways “... oh ok! After taking screenshots of what I was seeing on my browser they did finally fix it.
So- then there comes the time to cancel as I was headed towards that final month. I used their contact form to alert them that I was not interested renewing - I did not receive a response, I then emailed the rep that initially got me set up and never got a response either. Another day I used the chat service on the site to get some sort of confirmation in return that I would be cancelled and no automatic draft would come in january. He said I had to wait for my 6 months to cancel. Which essentially meant I had a one day window to cancel. Made no sense, so I copied and pasted that chat to the girl who set me up and again.. no response. Finally, after the frustration noise in my final attempt for a response in an email I was told that my account would not renew and I was confirmed for cancelling. Finally! Then Jan 24th came and YES they drafted out the $129. I replied back to that old confirmation email and they did returned my $. A week later I got a survey from them.. not inquiring on my experience with CHBO but rather a survey with questions regarding how I am operating my units so they could assist me moving forward. HA!
I offered my feedback to all the issues I had in an email to CHBO. The same rep that had gave me confirmation of my cancellation initially email that she appreciated my feedback and the owner would “probably” be reaching out to me. That call has yet to come. Why would the owner call me? Perhaps because I said I would offer feedback if anyone ever asked… and you asked :)
It’s a great service I am sure for some but not for me. I have used CL since 2005 to book my furnished units and the return on that has been no vacancy with zero spend on advertising. This is no joke either. I only advertise a couple weeks out of a resident leaving and it gets rebooked fast. I have about a 5hr window to get cleaners in and out and restock paper products before the next resident moves in. The only time any home has sat empty over a night is when I need to have a repair made.
I discovered CHBO from a podcast the owner was on. She talked a good game. This business has some systems & process in need of fixing.
Another downside to listing with CHBO. When my units are full I don’t really care to take email inquiries and calls from potentials. Using CL, I only get calls when I have a listing posted.
I booked one resident from it in 6 months. So the return on that advertising $129 x 6 months = $774. I cash flow monthly $1,120 on the unit that booked from the CHBO lead.
Has anyone used this site and can provide any feedback on it?
Thanks Chante,
I've been thinking in my off season that temporary housing for people on a short term gig/consulting job would be good to advertise to. Also, I'm planning on marketing to Realtors for people between housing when they are buying/selling (during my off season)!
@Kelly B. That sounds like an excellent idea of marketing to Realtors, because (as we know) there are numerous times you'll hear someone has sold their house and tried to match the closing date and signing date to be in sync with one another so they can move from their old house to their new house. But, as we know, the best laid plans don't always come to fruition.
I've seen here in Seattle that quite a few people are relocating (primarily for tech jobs), and have a decent amount that their companies will pay for their scouting trips to check out the areas, but sometimes it's not enough time before they have to start their job, but they don't want to commit to a particular area and/or buy a house until they arrive and get a lay of the land. Yes, they can stay in hotels, but some people have larger families and/or animals (if you allow animals), and it can be more convenient to stay someplace that has a "feel" of being more homey.
As a side bar, I've read on this site that most of the landlords prefer NOT to allow animals, but for those who do, they can open up their renter pool significantly. People are traveling with their animals more and more, and from my experience, they are willing to pay more to stay at places that allow animals. Not ridiculous prices, but definitely at a premium rate.
HI i am also using Corporate Housing By owner and yes its a perfect site if you want to rent out your furnished property in United States or Canada
What is the tyipical vacancy rate for Corprate housing?
I'm worried about having 2-3 months unrented?
Typically owner's experience about a 10-20% vacancy rate on avg. if the property is located in a market that has high volume traffic coming in. However, with the difference in rate you can charge being turnkey in most cases it makes up for the possible downtime.
@Chanté Owens I'm also listed on CHBO for about 4 months now. I have ALOT of general inquiries and just recently a serious inquiry for my property (not just in Arlington or within 50 miles = general inquiry). I still get the bulk of my tenants and bookings from Airbnb! I would imagine it wouldn't hurt to list to see how you do because everyone's experience will be different. Let us know what you decide!
@Lauren Lockett Thanks for the information! I don't (currently) have any rentals, but I did want to post this for others in case they wanted some other alternative ways to rent their properties.
I'm glad you are getting inquiries from it, but I do understand that AirBnB business is blowing up for a lot of people, so it's good to see you are benefiting too. Here's to an even better 2017!
I've been thinking about this too, but so far Airbnb has even kept my mid-term furnished rental (think corporate/student/snowbird) full with back to back bookings. So haven't listed yet..
@Lauren Lockett thanks for the feedback. I will have my support team review your CHBO account and then I follow up.
@Blair Russell Glad you are having success. If you have questions about doing corporate housing in the future, let me know, jeremy at mychbo.com.
Thanks @Jeremy Blackburn!
My experience with Corporate Housing By Owner.com
I tried CHBO out for 6months. 5 units listed at $129 per month. I would get inquires every once in a while but only booked one resident thru the site and that was during the last 2 weeks of my 6 month agreement. I did get weekly phone calls from exotic vacation holiday - seems they use chbo’s site to generate their leads - trying to get you to post on their site. Those people do not give up either - block the call and they just call from another one the next week.
CHBO made a judgement call (without consulting me first) to remove my contact info and replace with CHBO’s contact info. Not with regards to my actually listing on their site but if you select the option on CHBO site to broadcast your listings for you it posts to zillow - which then zillow broadcasts it to trulia & hotpads. I was told by CHBO they did this because of the sales calls from exotic vacation holiday harassing their clients. I only found out about them removing my contact info when checking on my listing in zillow and noticed some guys name and # that wasn’t mine.
The contact info listed on my units was going to a rep w CHBO. I called it and he didn’t answer. Next day I called again - no answer just VM again. Third day, a Friday I went ahead and left a message and he responded but not until the following monday. I also sent an inquiry thru zillow as if I was interested in renting - a response came 3 days after my inquiry. My issue was, I prefer to take the calls that come in especially being the number it was going to was not reacting to the leads as fast as I could.
Another issue was my units where being posted as 1bd’s (not 2bd’s) on their “search by major cities” page. I kept getting responses from tech support that they where not seeing what I was seeing and recall the guy saying “not to worry as most don’t search this way anyways “... oh ok! After taking screenshots of what I was seeing on my browser they did finally fix it.
So- then there comes the time to cancel as I was headed towards that final month. I used their contact form to alert them that I was not interested renewing - I did not receive a response, I then emailed the rep that initially got me set up and never got a response either. Another day I used the chat service on the site to get some sort of confirmation in return that I would be cancelled and no automatic draft would come in january. He said I had to wait for my 6 months to cancel. Which essentially meant I had a one day window to cancel. Made no sense, so I copied and pasted that chat to the girl who set me up and again.. no response. Finally, after the frustration noise in my final attempt for a response in an email I was told that my account would not renew and I was confirmed for cancelling. Finally! Then Jan 24th came and YES they drafted out the $129. I replied back to that old confirmation email and they did returned my $. A week later I got a survey from them.. not inquiring on my experience with CHBO but rather a survey with questions regarding how I am operating my units so they could assist me moving forward. HA!
I offered my feedback to all the issues I had in an email to CHBO. The same rep that had gave me confirmation of my cancellation initially email that she appreciated my feedback and the owner would “probably” be reaching out to me. That call has yet to come. Why would the owner call me? Perhaps because I said I would offer feedback if anyone ever asked… and you asked :)
It’s a great service I am sure for some but not for me. I have used CL since 2005 to book my furnished units and the return on that has been no vacancy with zero spend on advertising. This is no joke either. I only advertise a couple weeks out of a resident leaving and it gets rebooked fast. I have about a 5hr window to get cleaners in and out and restock paper products before the next resident moves in. The only time any home has sat empty over a night is when I need to have a repair made.
I discovered CHBO from a podcast the owner was on. She talked a good game. This business has some systems & process in need of fixing.
Another downside to listing with CHBO. When my units are full I don’t really care to take email inquiries and calls from potentials. Using CL, I only get calls when I have a listing posted.
I booked one resident from it in 6 months. So the return on that advertising $129 x 6 months = $774. I cash flow monthly $1,120 on the unit that booked from the CHBO lead.
A few months ago I tried a listing on CHBO. When I saw their fees, I changed my mind.
I can count on one hand the number of rentals I've successfully booked through AirBnb, VRBS, and several other similar websites in the last 6 years.
The number of tenants I've gotten through CraigsList in the last 6 years is a 4 digit number.
@Cody Cook - not a terrible experience but disappointing and another learning experience :) I learned to just to stick with what I know works and that is Craigslist - seems @Paul Sandhu is experiencing the same results :)
Just your price point alone will filter out the client base I think you may be concerned about.
As with any advertising vehicle there are pros and cons. Yes, the scam responses may come- It's daily when I post in NOVA/metro dc area but hardly any in JAX. They are easy to identify.
It really comes down to offering them solutions to their housing issue- its not all about the rate most times. What problem can you solve for them?
My market is all over the place with class A,B & C assets in different counties of fl and states. -They do all share the commonality of offering a higher cash on cash return using this furnished business model - That I can attest to so you are on the right track, especially in a popular city such as Austin.
Feel free to private message me if you would like some tips and we can chat more.
CHBO was a complete waste of money. I live in a highly desirable area near Century City and Beverly Hills, and got very little interest through this site. I spoke to an employee who sold their website and service to me as a complete "package", and convinced me to buy it. But of course when I wasn't happy with the outcome, they argued that I had purchased and "ad", and that ads don't always work out (funny how they were no longer positioning their website/service as a "package"). Anyway, they knew I was very unhappy and their customer service never bothered to reach out to me to try to make it right.
I ended up getting far more interest from other MUCH cheaper sites. PLEASE save your money and go somewhere else.
@Henry Castellanos Hi Henry, I am sorry about your recent experience with CHBO. I have reviewed the notes on your account and it appears you were seeking a 1 year rental term. Unfortunately, this rental duration is not typically booked up front. In some cases the client will contract for a shorter period with the option to extend month to month. We would honor you transferring the package to another unit if you would like or gifting to someone. Please contact CHBO if you would like to discuss further. Thanks
UPDATE: I am discussing this issue with Henry right now.
HI i am also using Corporate Housing By owner and yes its a perfect site if you want to rent out your furnished property in United States or Canada
Evening! I just got my first rental up and going with the intent to use it for corporate housing. I've had my eye on CHBO for quite some time. Are any of you still using it? I'm also on CL, FB Marketplace, Sublet, and Airbnb - just trying to gain as much exposure as possible. I'm aware that results can vary based on location. I think I may use corporatehousingbyowner bc the cost factor monthly isn't too crazy (plus I can write it off), but any other recent reviews from those of you who have been using it?
CHBO was totally useless for me. Not a single booking despite the rep’s assurances that I’m in high demand location and my property is priced right, etc.
CHBO was totally useless for me. Not a single booking despite the rep’s assurances that I’m in high demand location and my property is priced right, etc.
Same here.
I signed up for furnished finder about six weeks ago and didn't get a single inquiry
you should be on Zillow and also use turbotenant. I got quite a few inquiries, however it is difficult to get them to respond. So I send a response to their email and text and call the number if given. Immediately after I see the inquiry.
@Ken Latchers - I was also looking into FF, but heard way too many finicky things about that site as of late. The FB group seems to dish out all the issues wrong with the paid website. I will definitely look into Zillow and Turbotenant though! Thank You!
Turbo tenant is free to the landlord, and they will distribute your ads to a number of places. But they said, the problem is that they don't tend to respond so I text and call and email them. And I get some traffic from that.