is pay for parking a good idea?

[Dane Delatte]

I am thinking of buying a 26 unit apartment building that currently charges weekly rates ($200-$260 per week). I plan on keeping them weekly rates but I was wondering about charging for parking to use for fix ups of the outside the building and keep up of the parking lot. Also, there are occasionally vehicles parked there that are not tenants or guest of tenants. The business does not currently charge for parking, it is first come first serve when it comes to parking. Another factor is I only have 42 parking spots for a 26 unit. 

I was wondering:

Should i charge for parking and how much?

should I charge weekly or monthly for parking?

How should I keep track of vehicles that should be there and not?

How do I implement the system to tenants that are already there and did not have this parking fee when they started renting?

[Jaysen Medhurst]

@Dane Delatte, I think this is very market specific. It certainly wouldn't fly in most places outside city centers.

You should definitely insist that your tenants "register" their cars with you so you can keep track of who's using the lot.

[Trevor Lybbert]

You really have to look at your competition and see what other mid sized apartment complexes are doing. If no one else charges you will have a tough time justifying that to your tenants. But if there are others that do the same in your area, perhaps charge similar rates to help with your NOI. @Jaysen Medhurst is correct that it will probably be difficult to charge in most rural areas. 

If you do decide to charge, I can tell you administration can be challenging at times. And you or your manager will have to deal with tenant conflicts over inappropriate parking.

[Dane Delatte]

Thank you guys for the info. While I was think of doing it to help with the NOI, I'm just not sure it would be an easy sell to customers. Everything has been kind of hard to judge with competition . The only other competition that does weekly rate Kitchenettes like these around me are about 15 miles away and they are bigger hotel chains that are switching to the weekly rates because of the mass amount of transient traffic in the area due to the boom in the chemical plant business in the area. The closes mid-size apartment is also about 15 miles away, but I've seen those apartments and believe me, I don't want to mimic anything they are doing (its a dump).

I don't think I will do it. Too hard of a sell to customers and to much to deal with at first. Thanks.