Ep. 26: Corporate Housing and Furnished Rentals with Tim Touchette

Before the days of AirBnB, Tim Touchette recognized a demand for short term housing as an alternative to hotels in the Washington D.C. market. After buying a furnished rental, he experimented with finding his audience until he found his niche with corporate housing. Tim is the founder of Attache Property Management and Attache Corporate Housing, managing 280 furnished rentals in the Downtown DC area. He shares his best tips on investing in corporate housing, where this strategy works best and some of the key differences between AirBnB.

Key Market Insights

• Purchased a furnished rental based on a realtor suggestion
• Found renters through classified ads in the newspaper, talking to friends, and Yahoo Groups
• Renters were not typical renters, usually owned real estate as well, and were expensing their rent
• Founded Attache Property Management and Attache Corporate Housing, currently managing 280 furnished rentals
• Best Areas in DC for Furnished Rentals: Downtown DC and 1-2 areas removed from downtown, Dupont Circle, Capital Hill, Georgetown, Logan Circle, Penn Quarter, Foggy Bottom
• 90-95% corporate renters, handful of empty nesters or people renovating their home
• Avg length of stay for Attache is typically 3-4 months
• 30 days minimum, usually associated with the federal government in some capacity, also see many visiting professors, lawyers
• HR departments of many organizations are familiar and will refer Attache
• Need to have amenities: washer/dryer in each unit and/or on demand laundry service, high-speed internet, cable/TV and clean linens
• Biggest difference from AirBnB is length of stay & 24 hour customer service
• Consistency in guest experience is key for property management success
• On Government Regulation: believes short term rental stakeholders need to come together to manage and mitigate concerns
• Working on the conversion of a single family into an 8-unit property, all furnished units

Bull’s Eye Tips:

Winning Your Market: Start small

Tracking Market Changes: Read articles and listen to podcasts

Daily Habit: Journal writing weekly & working out

Resources:

Washington Post Article on AirBnB Regulations – 

Target Market Insights, Ep. 6 with Jasper Ribbers

Best Business Books:

Antifragile by Nassim Taleb

Digital Resources

Asana

Tweet This:

“Focus on gratitude and invest in real estate for the long haul” 

Places to Grab a Bite:

& Pizza

Compass Rose

Rebellion

Connect with Tim:

Website: Stayattache.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timtouchette

Email: tim@stayattache.com

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