Denver, Colorado September 27, 2006 Corporate Housing by Owner, a
new listing service for fully furnished private residences, now in its first year
of operation, outranks Oakwood Corporate Housing, the largest Corporate
Housing provider in the world. In six months, CHBO has gone from a new site
to the most popular directory of corporate housing listings in the country.
Corporate Housing By Owner is ranked number 42,408 by alexa.com (as of
September 27, 2006), which ranks website traffic volume.
The new company, Corporate Housing by Owner
(www.corporatehousingbyowner.com), is helping owners get the most out of
their properties by converting them to high-quality housing for business
travelers and other professionals who need temporary homes month by
month. As Americans are faced with signs that some housing markets may be
cooling, owners of investment properties can learn to adapt their properties
into corporate housing units in order to realize the profits they had intended.
Condos, townhouses and even full homes can be turned into corporate
housing.
According to a recent report by the National Association of Realtors (NAR),
investment home purchases across the United States rose nearly 16 percent
in 2005, representing a record number 2.32 million sales of investment
properties. By comparison, sales in 2004 were 2 million. The NAR report also
shows that, of all residential properties purchased in
2005, nearly 28 percent were for investment purposes.
Defining Corporate Housing
Corporate housing is no longer just for the business traveler. Corporate
housing has catered to business travelers, but now includes an expanding
market of professionals, who are relocating or on extended assignment and
individuals who need a home away from home. This includes traveling nurses,
professional athletes and performers, visiting professors, members of the
armed forces, medical patients, divorcees, displaced homeowners and
relocating executives. Corporate housing gives everyone living space that is
furnished and ready to occupy. Good linens are on the beds and in the baths,
the kitchen is stocked with good-quality cookware and utensils, art is on the
walls, an entertainment system is in place, and utilities, including cable and
high-speed internet, are up and running. The tenant receives the key and he
or his employer pays one monthly price for rent and utilities.
Corporate housing, according to its trade group, the Corporate Housing
Providers Association, is a $1.9 billion-dollar industry that has taken shape
only within the last 20 years. The association points out that a corporate
housing option gives individuals and families at least two times the square
footage of hotel accommodations and costs one-half the money.
Helping Owners Do It Themselves Makes CHBO the First of Its Kind
Corporate Housing by Owner (CHBO) is the first online housing service of its
kind in the world because the company gives property owners the do-it-
yourself instruction for furnishing and marketing properties that are of the
highest quality in the corporate housing industry. Based on years of industry
experience and research by its founders, Kimberly Smith and Eric Smith, CHBO
hands owners the information and tools that allow them to eliminate the third-
party property management company. Management fees and other, additional
leasing fees an owner otherwise pays are 30 to 50 percent of a property's
rental price. The month-to-month result for some is a loss, rather than an
investment gain.
Specific to CHBO and new to the corporate housing industry is the Smiths'
creation of a program for certifying the quality of owner-managed properties.
The point, says Smith, is to assure prospective tenants that a property
consistently meets the highest industry standards. The program, CHBO
Complete ©, adds value to a property by verifying that, among a list of
standards, it is well furnished, well equipped, and comfortable. Property
owners who opt to have their properties certified and promoted under the
program will be required to adopt a detailed inventory and adhere to a
preparation process that emphasizes quality. Of course, tenants will be able
to post their own ratings of a property online.
For new clients who need help beyond the site's resources, CHBO provides a
toll-free number (877-333-2426) that is staffed weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5
p.m., Mountain Time. For immediate information, property owners,
organizations needing temporary housing for their employees and travelers
who need a home away from home may visit the CHBO website,
www.corporatehousingbyowner.com.
Media cotact:
Lauri Harrison
303.885.4200
lh[at]lauriharrison.com