5 Ways to Upgrade Your Building’s Common Area Laundry Room and Keep Your Tenants Smiling
Quality tenants are the Holy Grail of multi-residential buildings, but attracting the people you want means offering them more than just a place to put furniture. Great amenities can set your property apart, and the often-overlooked laundry room is a perfect place to win over prospective tenants with convenience, comfort, and a dash of style.
Here are 5 tips for upping your laundry room game, generating more revenue, and giving residents a place they’ll love to live!
- Replace outdated laundry equipment
Tenants may not notice when things work well, but they definitely notice when things don’t. Equipping your laundry facilities with reliable, commercial grade washers and dryers will ensure greater resident satisfaction, lower repair costs and downtime, and better energy efficiency for more cost savings on your end. You can avoid initial capital outlay and expensive payment systems by opting for a Revenue Share lease, which will make it easier to keep state-of-the-art machines, and a Laundry Route Operator can install and maintain the equipment, and deal with resident queries, for a small fee. It’s an easy way to simplify your operation while meeting tenants’ needs.
- Add machines and increase revenue
Having to wait for machines to be available is one of tenants’ top complaints, sending them to off-site laundromats or dry cleaners—and spending extra time and money—to get their clothes clean. A simple solution is to make sure you have the right number of machines to accommodate your building population (see the Multi-housing Laundry Association’s minimum suggested ranges below). This will reduce or eliminate user wait times, keep tenants at home, and boost your building’s revenue.
Suggested washer/dryer quantities
| Families | 1 W/D per 8-12 units |
| Young Working Adults | 1 W/D per 10-15 units |
| Older Working Adults | 1 W/D per 15-20 units |
| Students | 1 W/D per 25-40 students |
| Senior Citizens | 1 W/D per 25-40 units |
- Turn a dungeon into a destination
If your laundry room is a poorly lit space in a remote corner of the basement, you may be scaring away the home-hunters you really want. But transforming dingy into inviting doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Here are some easy upgrades:
- Brighten the walls with a fresh coat of paint.
- Upgrade your lighting for better work visibility and a cheerier vibe.
- Open up the space by removing unnecessary furniture or equipment.
- Make laundry-folding easier with inexpensive linoleum counters.
- Consider installing a TV and some comfortable seating for those big laundry days.
- Provide plenty of garbage and recycling receptacles and keep things clean.
Your tenants will appreciate a more welcoming space and you’ll be proud to show off your laundry room at the next viewing!
- Make safety and comfort a priority
The laundry room is an extension of your tenants’ home, and you want them to feel safe and at ease while they’re using it. Bright, contemporary lighting and locking doors will offer a sense of added security, and low-maintenance plants and tasteful décor can help this utilitarian room feel warm and personal. If space planning isn’t your strong suit, talk to an interior designer for great improvement ideas that fit your budget while adding value to your building.
- Embrace technology
The days of paying for laundry with a pocket full of grimy change are over! The Coinamatic CP Mobile App gets rid of coins and cards and lets residents pay with their smartphone. It’s fast, convenient, and more hygienic for shared, high-volume operations. Tenants enjoy a streamlined experience and landlords get the benefit of no-hassle payment collection.
