As the rental market continues to evolve, co-living spaces are a growingly popular option for renters priced out of traditional rental housing. Co-living spaces hugely attract tenants seeking affordability, flexibility, and a built-in sense of community. From young professionals and students to remote workers and city dwellers, renters are interested in shared living arrangements that impart convenience and cost savings.
But, co-living arrangements offer opportunities and challenges for rental property owners and managers. Let’s look attentively at the rise of co-living spaces, some important considerations for rental property owners and managers, and proven strategies for successfully marketing these unique properties.
Understanding the Rise of Co-Living Spaces
Co-living is a real estate term that has evolved from the rise of housing startups creating homes designed to be shared by five or more adult roommates. These co-living spaces take a lot of forms, from single-family homes renovated to accommodate non-related residents to floors in high-rise buildings converted into dormitory-style lodging and beyond. In more general terms, co-living can imply anything from master-planned communities to completely living with roommates.
A lot of factors are driving the increase in popularity of co-living spaces. For example, rising rent prices, particularly in larger cities, have forced many renters to share space with non-related adult roommates. Cultural shifts have similarly an effect, as remote work culture and changes in social connectivity have induced more renters to seek out community in new ways. Hence, co-living tends to engage and attract most young professionals, students, city dwellers, and remote workers.
Key Considerations for Property Managers
Rental property owners and managers taking into consideration moving into the co-living market will be faced with both opportunities and challenges. Crucial key factors to consider include:
- Lease Structures & Flexibility: There are pros and cons to renting a single unit or property to multiple tenants. Nevertheless, individual leases can offer renters more flexibility while granting rental property managers more stability in rental income and lower turnover costs. The other side of that advantage is the need to manage individual leases and lease renewals for many people, which can notably escalate a property manager’s workload. The alternative is to offer group leases, which can reduce lease management although have other potential weaknesses as well.
- Furnishings & Shared Amenities: Another significant consideration is how to design a co-living space for community living. While arrangements, without question vary, in most instances, residents of co-living properties assume to have communal spaces that easily allow gatherings. Property managers can appeal to co-living renters by putting up communal indoor and outdoor spaces. Imparting furnishings, decor, and shared amenities can nail down that residents are comfortable and that no one person has control over communal spaces.
- Tenant Screening & House Rules: Another vital aspect of co-living rental properties is ensuring compatibility among co-living tenants. As non-related adults, residents of a co-living property may aspire to share their home with people who have lifestyles and personalities compatible with their own. This can be troublesome challenge for rental property managers as it involes handling expectations and responsibilities related to communal spaces. Constituting a clear set of house rules can help expressly delineate these duties and set expectations for conduct among non-related residents.
- Legal & Zoning Regulations: An additional consideration is local laws regarding shared housing. Many municipalities have strict regulations about the number of roommates and/or residents in different housing types, so it is imperative to do your research before ever offering a co-living rental.
How to Successfully Market Co-Living Rentals
There are quite a few unique elements of marketing a co-living rental property, so it is majorly important to concentrate on the features that attract renters to co-living spaces for starters. For example, in your advertising, see to it to lay stress on benefits like cost savings (particularly when compared to traditional rental homes), community engagement, and location.
Renters looking for co-living spaces are frequently interested in and attracted to properties with easy access to urban centers and local arts and entertainment options. They equally extensively use social media and rental listing sites to locate and apply for rental homes. By administering digital marketing strategies and highlighting key features in your marketing, you can very quickly attract the type of renters who are searching for co-living rental homes.
Is Co-Living the Future of Rental Housing?
There are a great deal of reasons to explore co-living rentals as a unique and hugely profitable option for your properties. Though, co-living may not be the ideal option for every rental property or location. That being so, fully understanding all the benefits and challenges of managing co-living spaces is a very important first step.
If you’re interested in managing or investing in co-living spaces, please contact your local Real Property Management Focus office. We are here to endow the support you need to heedfully make informed real estate decisions in McKinney and nearby. Our team can offer pertinent advice on market trends, investment strategies, and operational management. Reach out to us or call 773-443-7439 to discover more!
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