Value and expenses of in unit laundry

[Michael Wolffs]

I'm renovating a triplex. In the process of interviewing contractors, one of them brought up the idea of putting laundry machines in the units. The alternatives are putting pay machines in the basement, or not providing anything. There are no laundromats in the immediate area, so not providing anything may be a problem for the tenants.

With the pay machines, the value is obvious (what you collect), however units in the apartments will likely be a good lever to get somewhat higher rents. I also tend to think the pay machines will be sturdier. For the in unit machines, beside the standard stackable conventional units, I'm thinking about single unit combo washer/driers (space saving, easier installation, and probably cheaper.) Again, I don't know how sturdy they are.

Does anyone have any experience with this. How does laundry affect rents (up the scale from nothing, to coin-op, to in-unit)?

[Kimberly T.]

Look to see what nearby comps are offering, and try to match them. Don't try to go way over and above what neighboring rentals have.

With that said, the pro with in unit machines is that it's attractive to prospective tenants. The cons include higher water usage (tenants will run loads more frequently because they don't have to pay for each load) and maintenance on the machines. The second con can be removed if you simply provide hook ups without providing machines.

The pro for pay machines is the extra income and (hopefully) reduced maintenance since it's just one of each machine instead of three. The con is some people don't want to use pay machines.

We own a triplex with hook ups, and the tenants provide their own machines. With that said, we'd prefer pay machines, but this triplex is just not set up to accommodate that. Our fourplexes in AZ have pay machines.