Co-Living Apartments in Chicago

[Marco Morales]

I see this trend slowly popping up in Chicago and I was curious, does anybody here have experience with co-living apartments? If so, what kind of returns are you getting vs a traditional lease?  I'm thinking about this as a possible strategy for a multi-unit investment. Since it's a rather new concept for me, I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons.  

[Michael Mayer]

Unfortunately, I am not using this strategy. But! I am a big believer in this. As rents increase and millennials shift from needing the "white picket fence" to experiences in the ity, I think this trend will continue. I personally would do a co-living apartment but maybe I am not the norm. 

I think because you're selling a hybrid of a community/hotel/apartment, you have to have a plan that's a little more than just "sign lease, pay rent, call if there's a problem." A lot of the services that offer these seem to have cleaning, events, etc. You're acting almost like a luxury service. You'd need figure out what would make someone see a little more than "rent savings." You're potentially bidding for someone who is on the fence of having a roommate, but needs a little more.