Topic: Shared laundry - does it scare away potentials?

Aside from naming them clothes care centers etc., and other variations - shared laundry is still shared laundry after all - what do you do to sell or convince potential new residents that your shared laundry facilities should not be a deal breaker?

How many of you have lost out on new landing new residents because of only have shared laundry available? What would help?

I have 100 units and we have a 24-hour laundry facility. Our property is somewhat barebones in that we don’t have any fancy amenities beyond a pool. Of course having a washer/dryer in your apartment is a huge selling point, but the rent is going to be expensive (I’m in San Diego county). People like that our laundry facility is 24 hours and our prices are comparatively fair for being 2 miles from the Oceanside. Also our reviews help. So no, it does not hurt us not having a washer/dryer in our apartments.

There is one item missing in this topic. Does the resident pay for their own water or not. Regardless, do a cost justification of having the laundry in your own apartment versus using common laundry. If it is to their benefit to use common laundry areas then use that in your sale.

The laundry room should have as many amenities as possible such as a stereo TV and Wi-Fi capability. The laundry rooms also needs to pop in color and look fun and exciting.

Selling common laundry is all in the presentation. Doing laundry is generally not our favorite thing to do. When I had teenagers on the property I used to offer their services to help people take their laundry to and from the facility. It was an expense the owner incurred but it kept my clients happy and a service not offered by other communities. Do another cost justification to determine if this would benefit the property.

Thanks, Tony. Many valid points.

And knowing that region of the country is high demand, beggars can't be choosers per se. Way back when I was looking for apartments myself, the property manager kinda glossed over the shared laundry situation, and I was none the wiser, only to find out it's intricacies after becoming a resident. Do you feel a need to market or sell your laundry situation to potentials who might be put off by it being shared?

A couple questions, is your laundry owned and managed by the property or a third party vendor? Do you offer any added conveniences like electronic payments or availability app? How many machines do you provide for your 100 units? Is your property able to be retrofitted with in-unit laundry in the future?

The 24 hour availability must be a great help to the residents, despite that, do you often encounter complaints from your residents relating to laundry be it availability, conflicts, or maintenance?

I am currently a floating leasing consultant at 2 properties. One has shared laundry in every building. The other has washers and dryers in the unit. I would say that the majority of my tours end up going to the property with the washers and dryers in the unit because of the convenience. When asked what is a must have in the apartment? Washers and dryers are 98% of the time a requirement. I try to play up that the other property does have washers and dryers on the bottom floor of every building instead of a mass community laundry facility. I’ve noticed that the laundry room doors are almost never locked or closed. Residents leave the door open and I feel that is a huge issue for prospects.

Hello- I can say that without a doubt, it hurts the ability to lease your units. I managed a large community for almost 5 years, and it was consistently our number one reason for not closing on potential renters. We ended up having to install hook-ups into closets, and that was not so desirable, and then that also impeded leasing. If you still have the chance to change that decision, DO!!!

Raquel wrote:

Hello- I can say that without a doubt, it hurts the ability to lease your units. I managed a large community for almost 5 years, and it was consistently our number one reason for not closing on potential renters. We ended up having to install hook-ups into closets, and that was not so desirable, and then that also impeded leasing. If you still have the chance to change that decision, DO!!!

@Raquel, are you saying don't put in plumbing for in-unit either? Sounds like a catch-22 unless I'm misunderstanding.

Also, when it came to talking to potential renters about the shared laundry, what about it turned them off? Did they give specifics or problems that at he time the property couldn't solve?

Nicole wrote:

I am currently a floating leasing consultant at 2 properties. One has shared laundry in every building. The other has washers and dryers in the unit. I would say that the majority of my tours end up going to the property with the washers and dryers in the unit because of the convenience. When asked what is a must have in the apartment? Washers and dryers are 98% of the time a requirement. I try to play up that the other property does have washers and dryers on the bottom floor of every building instead of a mass community laundry facility. I’ve noticed that the laundry room doors are almost never locked or closed. Residents leave the door open and I feel that is a huge issue for prospects.

@Nicole, are the entries to your buildings secured, so at least access to the shared laundry rooms is limited to the residents of the building?