Corporate Housing opportunity legit or not?

[Nataly Valenzuela]

Hello!  My husband and I just bought a second home - planning to rent the other.  We’ve never done this before so we are learning as we go.  We posted the rental and one of the inquiries I received was from a company that claims they do corporate rentals.  I say claims because it all sounds too good to be true!  The name is Metis Properties and I cannot find much info on them other than the website they provided, which doesn’t immediately come up if you do a Google search.  The person I spoke to has provided credit score, previous tax forms, and account statements.  But I also can’t find a whole lot of info on her either (I even did a linkedin search and a page with not a lot of info comes up.  Based on some advice I found here I looked them up on the CA Secretary of State website (where the business is based, I’m in AZ though) and it was registered Dec 3rd this year, with one previous business registered in the same name but suspended.  The company will lead for 12 month minimum, has insurance and will be responsible for maintenance and cleaning, etc between tenants.  But I mean if this is a scam or not legit what do they get out of it?  Any advice? Help!  Thanks so much! 

[Nathan Gesner]

I see companies trying to rent houses all the time, usually construction crews brought in for a large commercial project, WYDOT, etc. They come in with a crew of eight guys and want to rent a house for $2,500. It would cost the company $12,000 a month to stuff eight men into four hotel rooms during the cheapest month of the year. In spring/summer, when they are most likely to come to town for work, the same hotel would cost $24,000 or more. It's not affordable.

What I do is offer to rent them a home at a premium. Here's how I structure it:

• Add the base rent, utilities, lawncare, and even TV/Internet
• Double the price
• Charge a deposit equal to one month of rent at the doubled rate
• Charge a non-refundable cleaning fee based on $100 per bathroom and $100 per bedroom

Most recent example is a house that rents for $2,000 a month. I added TV and Internet for $100, then an average cost of utilities (with a 20% increase because I expect excess use). The property is zero-scaped so I didn't have to add any other costs. This totaled $2,500 a month, so I doubled it to $5,000 a month rent. I charged a $5,000 deposit and an $800 non-refundable cleaning fee (home is a 5bed/3bath) that will pay for cleaning when they leave. The company looked at the place and didn't bat an eye. My Landlord is earning more than double what he normally would, the place will be professionally cleaned when the crew is gone, and everyone is happy.