All Forum Posts by: Eric Vlahos

 Great points. What parts of Akron? I've eyed North Hill, various spots of Firestone Park, and Highland Square. What areas have you been looking at?

Not sure if you have an answer or not, but my company actually does this with apartments, so I have some unbiased opinions:

1. The best company to incorporate is PayRange. It's relatively low cost, has lower CC % fees, and extremely easy to install.

2. Credit card readers at machines are hardly ever worth it since they're expensive per card reader, have ongoing monthly fees for support, and additional CC % fees

3. Laundry Card is my favorite since it usually means people spend more. They have to populate the card with either cash or CC/DC, and then once it's on the card, they use it to start the machine. This way, you hold onto the "float" or the money left over on the card after they spend the initial amount.

- Example: I (the tenant) put $10 on a card. I spend $2 on washer and $2 on dryer. If I was doing #1 or #2, you would receive the proceeds of the $4 after fees, but with #3, you would receive $10 less fees (if they paid with card), and then the remainder $6 would stay on their until they use it, or redeem. Think of it as a gift card for the laundry room.

However, BIG CAVEAT, with only 1 set of equipment, I would suggest #1 highly. As long as your tenants have a smart phone, they'll use it. #2 is a close second, but #3 is really only for big apartment complexes.

Hope this helps...

AERC Laundry Solutions

Hey Theo, 

Just stumbling onto this. We personally have a laundry service company that handles the Pittsburgh market. It's called AERC Laundry Solutions. We're family-owned, provide good equipment, and are completely coinless in our operation. So, we would install app based or card based (depending on market), and then deduct a machine minimum every month, then pay you a percentage of the rest. While it doesn't pay you the most compared to if you owned them outright, it's a great option to have a worry free laundry experience. Happy to answer more questions you may have.

Hey everyone, I actually work for a family-owned laundry service company that is based in Ohio. 

Even if you purchase, I would suggest eliminating quarters. There are systems like PayRange you can use to accept mobile payments only, and get rid of the dirty, time consuming, and unsafe business that is coin operated services. We offer lease services, and yes, we do require machine minimums, but since we do not put quarter machines in, there is 100% transparency in collections / fees removed for credit card fees. You will make more revenue if you own the equipment, but repairing commercial equipment is not cheap; it's more expensive than residential - so, just plan for that! 

I would suggest coinless and app first, then credit/debit at the machine, then loyalty card system if you have a large apartment community.

Not sure if you have an answer or not, but my company actually do this with apartments, so I have some unbiased opinions:

1. The best company to incorporate is PayRange. It's relatively low cost, has lower CC % fees, and extremely easy to install. 

2. Credit card readers at machines are hardly ever worth it since they're expensive per card reader, have ongoing monthly fees for support, and additional CC % fees

3. Laundry Card is my favorite since it usually means people spend more. They have to populate the card with either cash or CC/DC, and then once it's on the card, they use it to start the machine. This way, you hold onto the "float" or the money left over on the card after they spend the initial amount.

- Example: I (the tenant) put $10 on a card. I spend $2 on washer and $2 on dryer. If I was doing #1 or #2, you would receive the proceeds of the $4 after fees, but with #3, you would receive $10 less fees (if they paid with card), and then the remainder $6 would stay on their until they use it, or redeem. Think of it as a gift card for the laundry room.

However, BIG CAVEAT, with only 3 sets of equipment, I would suggest #1 highly. As long as your tenants have a smart phone, they'll use it. #2 is a close second, but #3 is really only for big apartment complexes.

Hope this helps...

AERC Laundry Solutions
 

 Fair points. Both me and my wife have great paying W2s, and simply want to start the process of building a nest egg of wealth as we age. Tough to gauge which is appreciation focused, and which isn't - that's where my work comes in, I suppose!

Good morning BP team, 

Long time listener - first time post-er! Me and my wife got married in November, and are looking to start our real estate investing journey in the Akron area. We've been speaking with as many investors we know about their decision making criteria, and we're torn. 

On one hand, our hometown of Cuyahoga Falls has seen an increase in property value where rents for SFR are now below the 1% rule, so it would be tough to make a rental work, but the renter demographics would *I think* be easier to self manage.

Or, we have the benefit of being right down the road from Akron, where the 1% rule is alive and strong, but there is a potential that the renters would be a bit more tough to self-manage *maybe*, and the area's aren't as *nice* as the Cuyahoga Falls area. Some places are sketchy, some places are OK.

Anyways, what is everyone's thoughts on our first rental? Ideally, I'd like it to be duplex (upper and lower style)