Anyone Know About Laundromats?
I have a life-long friend who has a reatil center with a 7,000 SF space he has trouble renting for almost two years. We were talking today that the perfect tenant based on the location of the center would be a laundromat. After a few minutes we decided we should open our own laundromat!
Anyone have any idea what goes into this? The center already has a liquor store, Family Dollar, and mexican market. It would fit in perfectly.....blue collar area, densely populated with a lot of renters too.
Would appreciate any info or suggestions of resources that I could start to educate myself with.
Thanks
There is a coin-op trade association wth a monthly mag. I think its called the Journal of the Coin Laundry Association. More info than you will ever assimilate.
depending on how long u plan on staying in the business, u might want to look at card operated machines. It is great for keeping down theft, and u can except credit/debit cards. plus get to charge more for the cards. my apartment complex uses a company cald web.
Look into building codes. The machines are heavy and often require large investments in structure to support the floor if not on a slab. The machines and maintainance are also expensive and should be purchased used and self maintained to optimize profit. Demand as others have stated needs to be verified also.
This is very common. It is very hard to find a good property management company. Most people focus on the monthly fees of 8%-10%, but the real costs come from all the inflated costs of maintenance they schedule. Usually they nickle and dime you by sending out repair men to check appliances costing $80 per visit. If there are any repairs you get hit for another couple hundred dollars. This can quickly erode cash flow.
It is also common for the management companies to have their own repair company or be partnered with a repair company where they receive incentives. This is a dangerous combination and utlimately the investor pays for it all. The best advice is to keep close tabs on the management company and their tactics. Replace them if necessary and watch out for the contracts they make you sign. They sometimes contain clauses that require you to cancel within a specified time frame or charge you extra.
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