Need help... running an all-girl's dorm / studio apartments

[twisted28]

In my desperate search to earn a little extra every month, I stumbled into an oppurtunity. We have a family friend who has an old building within the vicinity of UST and is currently renovating it to become a ladies' dorm / studio apartments. Since she knows me & my family, she is willing to give me a deal.

The building has 3 floors. She will be the one to lease out the 1st floor and she wants me to manage the 2nd & 3rd floor as a ladies' dorm / studio apartments. There are 20 units. She wants to receive a net of P100,000 per month for all 20 units and she is willing to grant me favorable terms. Whatever I make on top of that is for me to keep.

That is why I am asking for ideas / advise on how to run a ladies dorm / studio apartments. Anong magandang gimmick/style to keep fully occupied? What are the factors do I have to consider? I am willing to take the risk but I also want to be careful.

You inputs will be greatly appreciated.

[Ice Burn]

Make the place a place that will appeal to the parents. I mean if it looks like some rat hole, which parent would send their daughter there?

Provide reasonable rules and regulations that parents will approve. I mean, di ba the parents are usually paying for the dorm so if the rules and regulations are too liberal, parents might have 2nd thoughts. In short, have reasonable curfews and policies on guests (especially guests of the opposite sex).

Make sure the bathrooms are well-lighted and have large mirrors. You're housing ladies, good lighting and mirrors are a necessity.

Security. You should hire a 24/7 security guard or install video surveillance and make sure that the place isn't easily accesible to the outside world. Security is a big issue for the ladies and of course for the parents. Safe dorms will assure you of more clients.

A nice rec room for entertaining guests. Since it's a dorm, have a nice rec room for entertaining visitors (e.g. suitors). It will give a peace of mind for parents that there is a place for entertaining visitors. Rec room should have a TV set, sofas, chairs (maybe a pool table or an air hockey thing)

Make sure that your place never runs out of water! Now that is a big issue that will make your tenants run out to look for another dorm if you constantly run out of water.

I am taking it that the dorm will be furnished right? There's the usual bed, lamp, study table, chair. I suggest providing a small fridge per room if that is feasible. I also suggest that the rooms have their own phone lines. In this day and age, it will be better for the ladies to have their own phone lines (siyempre for calls and for their internet).

[the_BuGs]

Depende yan... kelangan fully furnished yung dorm mo at malinis... at shempre yung security ng dorm mo... yung nde na-nanakawan... at yung mga policies... like parents lang ang pdeng pumasok sa room dapat yung visitor sa salas lang at shempre me mga curfew....

[KuyaDanny]

Provide quality LAUNDRY arrangements and you will get their undying loyalty.

[LodRose]

i'm with the property management industry. if you're willing and able to push through, PM me your contact info and i'll discuss with you what you need to do and the costs involved.

[twisted28]

To Ice Burn, the_BuGs, KuyaDanny, LodRose,


thank you for your posts!


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LodRose,


PMed you na!



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To other PEXers,


Post your ideas here! The more, the better!

[Bea19]

I'm very picky when it comes to dorms kse i stayed in an exclusive dorm all throughout collge. I have to agree with everything that Ice Burn said. Kailangan **** comfortable atsaka malinis and safe *** place. I stayed in Residencia de Dios in Taft and I gotta say para kmeng nasa hotel. We have maids who cleans our room everyday. Tska we have utility boys for maintenance. At surveillance cameras everywhere. At may specific places lang kung san pwd makapasok ang mga guests. My parking din dapat kse pag may dalang car *** parents nung dormer kailangan may mapaparkingan.
Inquire ka sa Residencia just to see the place and how they run it. Lageng puno dun kse talagang maayos may generator at never pang nawalan ng water.
P4500 ang bayad namin sa room for 4. Fully furnished na un w/ ref and a utility room plus small kitchen. P4000 sa room for 6 and 8. PM me for more details if u like.

[mac_bolan00]

100k/mo or 5k per room-month? seems average but this can cause problems. you're going to assume full occupancy at all times. how big is one room? can it accomodate at least 5 students? studes in the u-belt don't expect anything higher than 1,500/mo as bedspacers. for working girls (teachers, R&F employees, etc.) the bedspace rate might go to 2,000 but at that rate, accomodations must be more comfy (not more than 2 to a room). do some exploration work in the vicinity. are the other dorms fully booked? what are their rates? what services do they offer? if occupancy is bad, you might want to haggle with your friend for a percentage of rental revenues ---safer that way.

if you plan to cram each room with students paying not more than 1,500/mo, make sure there's enough common area outside the rooms so the girls can be comfy (living room, washroom, dining area) ---all must be safe and hidden from prying eyes. talk to an architect or engineer to make sure the place is safe from fire, and other calamities. you migth want to hire a cook so you can offer pack lunches for sale. invest in an industrial-grade washing machine so you can offer laundry services in-house. a pay-phone, PC with internet access and other services might be useful.

[Lionel_Essrog]

I lived through dormitories and boarding houses thru college. Mahirap talaga especially if ur parents are on a budget and you cant really afford the good ones. I was able to live sa Pampanga's Best dorm in UST and one thing i like about it is that its a cheap dorm with airconditioning. Back then, they charged us around 1,500-2k depende on the number of occupants arond 4-6 people. i have to admit there isn't enough elbow room, madaming *****es and bad thing pa, may nakawan. pero they had it renovated na so masokay ang facilities ngayon. And the staff is very courteous =)

I wld suggest a big, common bathroom area- shower stalls separate from the toilet stalls (this saves time actually) parang gym bathroom ang set-up. Pls if you can provide toilet paper, kahit yung cheap lang. Also constantly declog the drains, pag girls dorm kasi lotsa hairs end up clogging the drains. and yes like Ice Burn suggested large mirrors and good lighting. Feed their vanity hehe.

Have a rec or study room kahit hindi bongga, kahit may TV lang, desks and seats okay na yon. Hindi yung sa labas pa nakatambay yung mga girls with their suitors or guests. A study room would even help them hold project/thesis mtgs with groupmates, makakatulong ka pa.

Set ground rules agad. Important 'to may mga girls na matigas ang ulo, set curfew time, no smoking sa rooms (fire hazard talaga yan, may mga unan na nasusunog)

Also provide ka ng pay phones, kahit yung teletipid lines.

Kitchen/Dining area. Basic lang may ref, may water cooler, may oven toaster, kalan bonus na kung may microwave. This would appeal to parents knowing makapagstock ng food ang anak nila.

Beds - dont buy those yucky green doubledeck spring beds na kalawangin, okay na yung wood na double deck or the cheap white metal ones usually found in pajo or Blumentritt

anyway suggestion lang naman, you can provide these amenities in a common area since you have two floors for the dorm, it wouldn't cost too much to provide these creature comforts. Hindi naman kailangan sosi ang dorm mo maayos lang may basic stuff at malinis. Honestly ang mahal sa mga Madre dorm tapos malakas pa sila maningil ng kung ano-ano and they confiscate food (i.e pringles, oreos) from lockers during inspection.

If you provide an alternative and comfortable style of living for students, trust me word would spread and they would love to live sa dorm mo.

Good luck with ur venture!

[zippo_d_frog]

Twisted,

I have a feeling that you are entering into a quandry. I am utmost certain that this venture will not work because of many financial implications. Being a business manager, I can see immediately many pitfalls in your assumptions to make something extra and that you entering into a trap.

If you should want my thoughts, PM me your number and I can tell you all about it.

Sorry, its just too long for me to put it here.

[marlo_kalbo]

Zippo_d_frog

Cge na post mo na **, so everyone can learn. :)

-marlo

[hanskyut]

provide good study area, lighting and ventillation

wag din sana siksikan sa rooms

dapat may common area din to watch tv, for those na walang dalang tv

[chinkygurlie]

hi! i was looking for a dormitory na mgnda *** offer.. i mean the service, the facilities, the security and all that.. even internet for research works in school... im about to transfer ng school na kc.. i used to study in mapua makati.. and i live in laguna pa.. so im just curious kung open pa po *** dorm na inoofer ng thread starter.. thank you po..

[Bea19]

san ba chinky ang school mo?para i can suggest great dorms to stay in...

[chinkygurlie]

im planing to transfer in metropiolitan hospital college of nursing (mhcn), in sta. cruz manila.. bea19 help pls.. thank you!!

[filipina_025]

hello, i own a just small 2 storey b.house in my province at as a suggestion tama talaga that u will have a house rules at dapat me 1 room ka din where u will have to stay. dapt comfortable at kung ang market mo ay those that can afford ng mahal mahal na rooms ok lang if u provide fridge kasi mas mahal naman talaga anf rent... on my b.house i only allow parents and bro and sis of the boarders na magpunata ng kwarto since meron naman kami sala as our receiving area...(others dont hve kasi)....
Just this january there were 2 boarders murdered in one b.hauz here dahil sa pagnanankaw coz the b.haus is open 24 hrs dahil wlang nagbabatay kaya anyone can go inside na inaakalang visitor lang ng ibang boarders... so to avoid that u must have curfew time at dont open doors pag me kumatok.
Inside i also sell some basic foods na kakailanganin ng boarders ko at syempre and eload. extra income na din un. and this june half side of the lower part gagawin ko internet cafe (kasi napapalibotan din me ng b.house. so many students)

[promayk]

Hi twisted28!

My concern is more on the financial side than on marketing. Right now, I am a little bit worried that you can meet the P100k net per month for a 20-unit dorm. First of all, you need to charge more than P5k per month for each room to recover the cost of utilities, maintenance and other expenses (i.e. cleaning items, taxes, etc). Second, charging more than P5k per month will make your business uncompetitive in that area, where other apartments are charging way less than that amount. Thirdly, if you will market and promote your business aggressively, this will entail additional cost and may not be enough to ensure 100% occupancy rate. Fourth, you need to be ready to take on the risk involved (i.e. less than 100% occupancy, increase in utility rates, among others) and include this in calculating your cashflow. Lastly, you need to include the cost of labor (that's you) in managing this business to account all the cost involved.

I have some pro-forma cashflow for an apartment/commercial center that was designed by an architect friend of mine. I could make some few adjustments if you want to see how much you will earn in a month after taking into account all the cost incurred.

NOTE: You might consider diversifying the services offered in that building if you want to earn some more income aside from those you earn from rental payments.

My email is: mimidelmail@yahoo.com