CHBO Case Studies



Denver Homeowner Rents Out Home for $1,000 More Per Month than Expected!

When Angela Crowley had the opportunity to relocate overseas for business, she began evaluating the option of selling her fully furnished Denver home. With the real estate market in shambles and Crowley not quite ready to give up Denver for good (she planned to live in Denver for part of the year), a real estate expert recommended she rent out the home as an executive rental. After a rental agent listed her home for rent for three months (and after lowering the price three times), she decided to take matters into her own hands.

After searching around online while overseas, Crowley stumbled upon CorporateHousingbyOwner.com (CHBO), an online website that connects owners of fully furnished properties with executives and others looking for temporary rentals.

She spoke with a representative at CHBO to learn more about how the process worked and found it all simple enough. She immediately set up her posting and within two weeks, her property was rented out for five months and for $1,000 more per month than the rental agent had suggested. That rate included the use of her furniture, utilities, high speed Internet, and general maintenance.

Crowley says that corporate housing was the "perfect" solution for her needs. "It worked perfectly last year because it allowed me to maintain my investment while still working overseas. I am about to post the listing again for this winter. We will see if it continues to work!" she said.

Crowley says that that while her experience has been great, there are some challenges to owning a corporate rental, including the risk of damage to her personal property and coordinating logistics from abroad.

Crowley says she has taken measures to prevent any personal property risks and understands that the benefits of being a corporate housing landlord well outweigh the risks.

"I have decided that corporate housing is a better option for me than selling because I love my home. I am able to keep my home, maximize its value, and live in other locations part of the year," she says. “It doesn't get better or easier than that!”

Crowley’s story was featured in the Denver Post in December 2008. Please to read the full article on our blog.

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Corporate Housing Helps Phoenix Homeowner Build Equity and Still Enjoy a Home Away from Home Too! 12-23-2008

In 2006, when the building industry was at its peak and the economy in good shape, Marlene Johnson and her husband decided to buy a condo in Phoenix (about 10 miles outside of Tempe, Arizona). They visited the area often because their daughter lived there and they saw a ripe investment opportunity.

Marlene fully furnished and beautifully decorated the Phoenix condo, which includes travertine floors, stainless steel appliances and gleaming granite countertops. The location was perfect too – just a few miles from downtown with easy access to the freeways.

However, the couple needed their Phoenix condo to be rented out part of the year in order for them to make their mortgage payments. The couple was feeling the financial heat as they had recently bought a larger home in Woodland Hills, California.

As luck would have it, Marlene was able to rent her Phoenix home to friend of a friend for several years – but when that tenant no longer needed their home, they decided to list it on Craigslist and with a local Realtor – sadly they got no bites.

Landlords Get Creative When Times are Tough

Not one to sit idle, Marlene decided to get creative and began doing a little research online. There she found CorporateHousingbyOwner.com (CHBO), an online portal that enables homeowners to list and market their fully furnished properties to corporate housing executives and others seeking fully furnished, temporary rentals. After speaking with the company’s co-founder and with several of CHBO’s customers, she was convinced to give CHBO a try.

Within hours of listing her property (ID #3092) on CHBO, she had her first inquiry – a Fortune 500 company that wanted to rent her condo to an intern for the entire summer. Not only that, but she was able to get a great rate for the property too!

“CHBO has been a wonderful resource for getting exposure in the Phoenix market, even when the heat is on!” she says, ecstatic that her property was rented during a season when there are less visitors to the area.

She said after her summer tenant moved out, she elected for a CHBO "sponsored ad," which spotlighted her property on the CHBO homepage; again, within hours, she got a call from a new tenant who stayed in her property for another month!

Managing a Long-Distance Property

Marlene says managing a long distance property is challenging, but not impossible. She makes arrangements for the property to be cleaned when her tenant moves out and she often uses the time between tenants to enjoy the property herself and visit her daughter. Plus, she says it doesn’t hurt to have her daughter in town to keep an eye on the place, as well as a helpful neighbor too.

Overall, Marlene is pleased with being a corporate housing landlord and says that corporate rentals have been the best solution for her and her husband.

“With the economy the way it is, we would take a huge loss in selling the Phoenix condo. Plus, we really can’t afford the luxury of having it at our ‘beck and call.’ It’s nice to have someone live there and pay our mortgage while we continue to earn equity,” she says. “We just keep our fingers crossed that our success continues!”


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Job Transfer Leaves Family Miles Apart
10-27-2008

Laurie Rioux shutters to think about what last Christmas would have been like separated from her husband. That’s because the scenario was all too real for this professional nurse and her two-year-old daughter.

In July 2007, Laurie’s husband was unexpectedly transferred from Arlington, Texas to El Paso. The couple was not ready to pick up everything and move, and not ready to sell their home in a soft housing market, the couple decided to live in separate cities.

“I couldn’t just pick up everything and go. My business was in Arlington, my career was in Arlington and my home was in Arlington,” she said. “We knew if we sold our home and then had to move back, we could never afford to purchase this kind of home again.”

Laurie’s husband began living alone in El Paso. Laurie stayed behind with their daughter.

Miserable being a part from her husband and with Christmas just over a month away, Laurie knew she needed to do something – anything – to bring her family together again.

After perusing the Internet, Laurie stumbled upon CorporateHousingbyOwner.com where she learned that she could temporarily rent out her fully furnished home as a corporate housing rental. Within two weeks, Laurie packed up her personal effects, turned her home into a CHBO Complete™ certified listing (which meant her property met corporate housing standards of completeness) and then listed her home for rent on CorporateHousingbyOwner.com.

Within one month of advertising on CHBO, Laurie found a quality renter who wanted to lease her home for three months. That renter was Laurie’s ticket to El Paso so she and her daughter could spend the holidays with their husband and father. Months later, Laurie continues to use CorporateHousingbyOwner.com to find a continuous stream of quality tenants. In fact, she even rented her home to a family displaced by Hurricane Ike.

Laurie likes the new arrangement, although she still dreams of the day when her whole family is living in their cherished Arlington home again. She says, “CorporateHousingbyOwner.com gives me the flexibility of having my Arlington home available every so often so I can come home to take care of my patients and do what I need to do in Arlington. I like knowing that the home is still there for us when we’re ready to go back.”

In the meantime, Laurie will earn passive income from her Arlington home while enjoying living as a family unit in El Paso. “I don’t know if we’ll ever move back to our 
Arlington home, but I know that we just weren’t ready to let go of it,” she says. And thanks to CorporateHousingbyOwner.com, she doesn’t have to let go.


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DC-Metro Homeowner Turns Investment Property into Lucrative Corporate Housing Rental
10-24-2008

Arlington, Virginia resident, Adriane J. McCray Webb, took her first foray into corporate housing when she and her children accompanied her husband, a military officer, on a tour of duty. It was during this overseas assignment when she gained the valuable knowledge about temporary housing that would serve her well in the coming years as a real estate investor.

Upon returning state-side, Adriane and her husband purchased their first income property. Soon after, the property was rented and immediately began off-setting the couple’s expenses. Hoping to continue the trend, the couple expanded their real estate investment portfolio by acquiring a second investment property.

However, with changing market conditions, the couple was not recouping their expenses. One property had a viable tenant, but the second sat idle for several months with no solid rental prospects. “What started out as a real estate investment had gradually become a financial drag resulting from a lack of qualified leads in a tenuous housing market,” said Adriane.

Recalling her overseas housing experience, Adriane began researching the need for similar housing in her area. After consulting with numerous real estate experts in the housing industry, she decided to convert her investment into a corporate housing rental in hopes of attracting and increasing the pool of quality renters.

Further research led Adriane to Eric Smith, founder of CorporateHousingbyOwner.com. “I really came to rely on Eric’s professional judgment. He not only walked me through every step of making the transition, but also he helped me do so effectively and efficiently,” recalls Adriane.

This decision proved to be the turning point in a cycle of negative cash flow. After applying a fresh coat of paint and installing new carpet, Adriane was able to create an environment worthy of their targeted audience by installing contemporary fixtures, high-end furnishings, modern housewares and luxury linens. As a result, the couple secured their first tenant within three days of listing their fully furnished property with CorporateHousingbyOwner.com. “Furnishing our unit enabled us to share our vision of what this home would look and feel like, making it easy for potential clients to see themselves moving in and living here,” Adriane said.

Her first tenant not only referred her to the next qualified renter, but is now a repeat customer. Adriane says, “CorporateHousingbyOwner.com has made a believer out of us and we plan to list other properties with the company to realize our goal of earning passive residual income on real estate.”

That said, the couple realizes that corporate housing remains a constant learning process. “We are learning as we go,” Adriane said. “We continually reassess our expenses and adjust our rates accordingly so that we remain competitive in order to attract quality renters. Yes, it’s a learning process, but one that we’re excited to be a part of!”


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