Laundry is a fact of life and part of everyone’s ongoing routine. In fact, research shows that 67 percent of people do laundry at least twice per week, while 31 percent say they do laundry every day. With that in mind, you want to be sure that the laundry room in your rental property is meeting the needs of your residents. If not, you may be dealing with high turnover and empty units more regularly. Here are a few things to keep in mind and some tips to help make sure your laundry room is up to par.
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4 Things Renters Look For In A Shared Laundry Room
Commercial Laundry Equipment
Not having enough washers and dryers for your tenants generally mean long wait-times, crowded laundry rooms, and possible tension and/or disagreements between residents. All of that disrupts the efficiency of your apartment’s laundry room and the overall atmosphere of the building. The right number of machines depends heavily on the size of your building, the number of renters, and the size of your laundry room, and laundry equipment capacity.
- Work with laundry experts to help you design a functional laundry room with enough machines for residents at your rental property.
- Work with an experienced laundry service provider on ongoing maintenance schedule so your machines are always up and running.
Convenience
We live in an age of convenience and instant gratification. It’s what your residents expect — even when it comes to laundry. Thankfully, advanced laundry technology has made the process easier than ever before for multi-housing laundry operations. The more convenient it is, the smoother the community laundry room will operate, the happier your customers will be, and the more profitable.
- Utilize app-based payment options so residents don’t have to make a special stop at the bank.
- Customers also appreciate app-based features like Wash Alerts, service requests, and rewards right through their smartphone.
- Supply high-quality equipment with fast cycle times to minimize wait times.
Accessibility
Accessibility piggybacks right off of the convenience factor noted above. The more accessible the community laundry room is, the more likely residents are to use it. Navigating stairs or tight spaces with heavy, bulky laundry baskets can be difficult, and residents on high levels of an apartment complex may get frustrated with having to trek all the way to a basement laundry area regularly. On top of the convenience factor, you also have to think about legal fair housing and ADA requirements for building tenants with disabilities.
- Place the laundry area in a high-traffic area of the building and avoid steps and other tripping hazards.
- Consider automatic doors that open/shut when tenants are loaded down with clothes
- Meet all ADA and fair housing requirements.
Cleanliness
Being that it’s a common area of the apartment building, it usually falls on management to keep community laundry areas clean. No one wants to do laundry in a dirty room, so it’s important to keep the area clean and tidy. Not only that, but cleanliness can also help prevent injuries due to tripping/slipping and damage to machines from debris.
- Have a routine cleaning schedule for the laundry room.
- Make sure there’s plenty of garbage and recycling bins.
- Hang signs to remind tenants to pick up after themselves.
Accessories
A good shared laundry area has more than just laundry equipment. Your tenants need other laundry accessories and supplies to manage their laundry. Small apartment units mean that many residents often have limited storage for things like laundry baskets, ironing boards, and even detergents and limited space for drying and folding clothes. Consider the public laundry room an extension of their space and provide some of the things you may generally find in a home laundry room.
- Consider having vending options for soaps and other laundry supplies
- Providing laundry carts or bins for residents to transport clothes from the shared laundry area to their units.
- Have laundry folding tables and drying racks
- Install utility sinks for handwashing and stain removal needs
If your laundry room isn’t meeting the needs of the residents at your property, the laundry experts at Speed Queen can help.
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