An apartment building of 10+ units will generally benefit from having an on site laundry facility. Residents enjoy the convenience of doing laundry in their own buildings and owners enjoy the extra revenue. The downside, of course, is the repair cost, which can add up once the machines fall out of warranty. Service technicians for a washer or dryer can be in excess of $200+ per incident, never mind the lost revenue if a machine is out-of-order and waiting for new parts.
From a property management perspective, I recommend releaving yourself of such headaches (and expenses) by hiring a professional company who specializes in multifamily laundry systems. Our property management firm here in Los Angeles uses use a company called Web.
Advantages of out sourcing your laundry service:
- When a contract is signed, the company providing the service will replace the old equipment with brand new washers and dryers
- If a machine breaks, the company will fix or replace at no cost to landlord
- Money collection is the sole responsibility of the service provider (no more running from property to property to collect bags of quarters)
So, what does this service cost? The laundry man makes his profits from the gross collected amounts generated from resident use of the machines. Typically, they will charge 40% to 50% of all monies collected and send the landlord a monthly check for the remaining amount. For most property owners, this a fantastic deal when you take into consideration the property maintenance expense saved on repairs. And as an added bonus, you don’t have to collect all those quarters yourself.