Corporate Apartments are the same exact apartment and type of tenant you are leasing to now. One difference is I am the tenant and our tenant is a tenant. You meet him, we check him out thoroughly, and I sign a one year lease. He stays the time his corporation allows, which is up to 6 months.
Corporate Apartments are a multibillion dollar industry operated worldwide by Bridge Street, Oakwood, Equity Investments, and locally by Park La Brea, The Palazzo, Residence Inn, and Marriott. It solves an old problem for owners and a new one for corporations. You get the 1+ year lessee; a consistently on time rent check, and a tenant who will thoroughly and spotlessly clean your apartment every 4 to 6 months, including carpet. The corporations get a cheaper bill than a hotel, and their employees are happier.
It is a long term solution to the ups and downs of vacancies, bad seasons or down markets. This is a solution where you won’t have to chase tenants for rent checks, and a solution to annoying questions that tenants ask at move-ins, move-outs and odd times of the night. It is a mini-management system that costs nothing and saves management time and money. You also get a professional, quiet tenant.
Our goal for you is to create additional income, shorten your turnover time, and make management easier. This business stabilizes the up and down vacancy that market owners have had to experience in the past. There is a constant demand for your apartment by corporations who do not know you exist, yet.
Who becomes your new tenant…?
Fortune 500 Companies who have on payroll a new generation of traveling, hired problem solvers, sales executives, regional managerial help for law firms, accounting firms, engineering projects, writers, editors, movie production companies and hospital staff including nurses, young residents, trainees.
Some of the apartments in the past were filled with RNs, LPNs and Resident Doctors from Core Medical, Cedars Sinai, USC Hospital and World Health. The entertainment industry has pre and post production employees from Universal, CBS, BET, Elite Modeling, Warner Bros, BBC, Tele-Mundo, CBS and Warner Bros.
The legal industry has lawyers on assignment from Dunn and Kutcher, Japan Legal Assoc. and numerous smaller firms.
The stay is an average of 4 to 6 months, and many are longer. We remain on the lease for as long as you will have us.
These travelers are home owners who work most of the year on the road in different cities. They are not on vacation. They are on job assignments from home offices in Texas, NY, London, Brussels, Tokyo or Missouri. Some, of course not many, are in marriage transition, remodeling homes, relocating; or have sold homes.
They all share one thing in common; they do not want to live in a hotel as a guest or with friends.
Tenants make a minimum of $60,000 – $150,000, are college educated, work driven travelers, who want to do their job and have a quiet, fully furnished place to stay in a nice neighborhood.
How you benefit…
1. Our company will sign a lease for a year or more. All corporate prospective tenants’ applications are taken and checked out to see that they have AAA credit and no UDs. The tenant agrees to your lease, signs all lead notice forms, rules and regulations.
2. You have 100% control. We have yet to evict a tenant. If you do not like a tenant, we serve him; we pay the legal fees and pay rent during and after the process.
3. Our firm has a 4 million dollar liability and property damage policy, good credit, pays rent on time and throughout the lease period.
4. We are 10 minutes away from your location for fast response.
5. Furniture is brought in disassembled in boxes causing no damage, and remains with the apartment throughout our lease period.
6. You gain a AAA credit tenant-me, and a AAA quiet professional resident-them.
7. We absorb the downtime for turnovers, advertising, showing the apartment; manage keys and move-ins and outs.
8. You still maintain full control and a full building with earlier than the 1st of the month rent checks.
9. We take no commissions
10. We take care of re-rentals
11. We take care of any tenant problems that come up and pride ourselves on being professional and useful to management companies we serve.
Let me know when we can get started.
Sholom and Debbie Fine
Pillsbury Dayton was formed in 1999, after 30 years in the traditional residential commercial fields of Real Estate.
Our company is a member of AGLA, Apartment Owners Association and CHAPA. We are domiciled in Los Angeles, with associates worldwide. Past certifications include IREM as a CPM, sales and brokers licenses in Minnesota and California. Sholom Fine has owned, operated and sold 2,000 units for Universal Properties in Beverly Hills and his own portfolio of 2,000 units in Minneapolis, MN.

What is the most rewarding part of what you do?

Providing great relationships with the tenants is by far the most rewarding part of this biz. I love to hear positive feedback too. There’s nothing like answering the phone to: “I love the apartment, thanks!”

Okay so what’s the worst?

It doesn’t happen that often but some tenants upon move in immediately need to warn the hazmat teams that this apartment will henceforth be referred to as ‘ground zero’ and will be treated as a dumping ground from the day they move in until vacancy. I mean, we have tenants that seem are so sweet and at the same time leave wall to wall trash, but then we have the tenants that are bossy, yell at me, blame me for damages that they are clearly responsible for and then leave the apartment a mess, possibly to spite me? I don’t know. Most aren’t like that but we’ve had a few worst case scenarios.

The massive plumes of smoke that will hover in the atmosphere for days is enough to cause safety concerns because of obvious issues of visual impairment and the sediment that the volcano is spewing includes so many metals that it would play havoc on mechanical systems and sensor readings.

Where our industry is concerned, the fallout from volcanic ash is likely to severely hurt the airline industry and is costing a reported 200 million dollars a day but this will not cause a significant blow to the travel and housing markets.  I have a couple tenants who are stranded and were en route to us but we are rearranging the schedules around them and we will see them safely after this weekend is over. Global Economic Insight chief for UK and European Interests Howard Archer says “The overall impact should be very limited even if the problem persists for a day or more … ,” In other words, this disruption does not equate with the eradication of the dinosaurs, and it will be business as usual in another few days.

The temporary housing market is far from devastated despite widespread news coverage of the contrary. News sources today are projections of fear that have stifled many markets they “report” to. Yes, there are many markets that were hit hard and a lot of people directly related to those markets suffered. The real estate and stock market were primarily affected and to be quite blunt, gamblers lost their money. The banking institute teaches that our houses are untapped bank accounts that we can raid anytime we want. During bull markets the stock market evokes images that money rains from the sky and that inexperienced stock holders will do fine because every stock eventually goes up no matter what or that someone else is going to make you a lot of money.

We as an established business pre-economic downturn, made a few cut backs but were largely focused on how to react to the ebbs and flows of the people who might become our tenants. We tried to adjust to “the new market” but there wasn’t anything “new” to do or offer. We sweetened our offerings anyway but it did not make a bit of difference and our company and large corporations like Oakwood and Bridgestreet got hit hard. We are all growing again and the housing business is back after the long pause and it did hurt. I still believe we all hurt for the wrong reasons when people second guessed everything they did because of sensationalism. We observed all of this first hand. We watched other people’s fears affect our own and we feared for ourselves.

So what happened? People that borrowed against their house lost their houses. And people who borrowed from the gambling ‘house’ lost to the house. Remember that saying “the house always wins”? Well that house now owns your house, literally. Unemployed and largely unskilled laborers are fighting for jobs with migrant workers because it’s not that easy to get a job anymore. The college educated with nonviable degrees or declining fields of study and the poorly motivated college graduates are moving back home with their parents.

Many may not realize that a lot of these fields our young studied and prepared for were on the decline anyway. The publishing business, newspapers and print journalism are all being taken over by internet sources and computer programming/software engineering jobs have long been declining because of the huge supply of workers but limited demand as programming shifts elsewhere and new markets emerge overnight. The music industry and Hollywood has been in rapid decline for at least a decade because of illegal downloading and it will only get worse as these companies raise prices to make the few who do pay, pay for the ones who don’t.

It may be rough out there for many but there is plenty of money to made. The real issue that we have come across is that people are scared. When people retreat from fear it keeps them from putting themselves out there in the market and makes them cower. When everyone reflects fear, everyone panics, with good reason and bad. This is the real problem. The ‘uncertain’ times that we are in are just that, uncertain. People have the money to spend for needed services but are hesitant to do so. Housing has always a needed service with an 8% annual growth rate but when people are stuck at home wondering if this is the financial Armageddon, nobody leaves. People stop moving and traveling becomes stagnant. When your average risk on any business venture is multiplied by sensational yellow journalism aimed at earning a buck at your expense, it makes you think twice and then thrice.

This was the real problem to us and many in the hospitality business. Fear controlled our market. I’m hoping because we are back on top that we as a people have suffered, we learned, and we overcame.

Being new in the corporate housing biz in 2003 and having landlords actually rent to us back then before short term rentals were recognized and understood was a goldmine. Within one year we had 30 units in all three buildings during the 2nd great bull market of my lifetime. We took all of their vacancies immediately upon offering, and we always paid on time. They must have loved us as many landlords love us now because 90% of the physical damage to units comes from moving furniture in and out but with us, once we’re in, that’s all the moving we do and they now realize the caliber of our tenants.

Rents were ridiculously low in those 3 buildings. This was possibly due to mismanagement, a lack of caring, or a combination of the two. Once the neighboring buildings saw what we were doing and how much of an asset we were, they welcomed us with open arms when a year before had literally hung up on us no matter how many vacancies they had. We got our foot in the door and we started building our business across the street, down the street and up the street as well. I instituted a lower and separate tier to make up for the inadequacies of the initial buildings themselves –regardless of how nice they were inside with our furnishings. At the time, I figured we could give our tenants more of a choice with 2 price points.

During our expansion and dealing with other management companies, my parents started to realize just how poor the management was at the original 3 locations. The Russian couple had become completely reliant on our business but had not bent an inch since we had started with them. We were still paying for their repairs, we were fixing up their lobby, and we had to have our own handyman on call because they refused to fix the most basic things. Whatever poor management had been going on before ceased entirely when we picked up the slack, until we stopped that is. In the 4 years we had been with them, they were greeted in the hallway at every instance with an unreciprocated smile, and not even a ‘thank you’ for the years of presents at all the holidays. We had had enough. They had not. They continued to make my parents miserable about the most inconsequential things. So much so that when the housing bubble burst and I came on, we cut them loose, and I was happy to do it.

We lost a massive amount of money during the downturn of our economy. We went from 45 units to 14 and even had vacancies then. That was a year and a half ago. We completely eliminated the lower tier of apartments we had at that time and focused on quality and exclusivity. While we have built up in this market, we aren’t going away even though sometimes it’s a fight every step of the way. We are constantly exploring new opportunities, taking on new modern contemporary furniture and upgrading inventory like the 42” HDTV’s, Unlimited Nationwide Calling, all in beautiful buildings and of course all inclusive. We have learned a thing or 20 along the way but one of the things that we have never changed is that to be successful, your clients always come first, no matter what. Whatever nonsense was or is going on behind the scenes, we never let our tenants know it and we never let anyone see us sweat. We’re a small business that is here to stay and we’re not going anywhere.

Imagine driving around in a two-seater sports car. Now that’s a pretty picture but put yourself behind the wheel. You feel the power obviously; you also feel the wind with the top down and the envious stares from all around you. What isn’t obvious in your image is how cramped the car actually is. It’s built for speed but everywhere you look there are speed limits and cops are looking for cars like yours to pull over. You may have the ability to speed but always risky opportunities. The car is aerodynamic but it’s so close to the ground that you might as well be driving the Flintstones car when you feel every jar and bump the road has. The car is small and therefore has great maneuverability but at the same time it cuts out 2 of your friends because it is lacking a backseat and even if it does, how does it feel pushing your seat forward for them to get in and out? How do you feel about spending 5x the average person’s salary on a car and then moving the gears yourself? What conveniences aside from a CD player and A/C are left out to simply focus on the raw power of the car? Oh, and you’re paying $200,000 for all this.

Now imagine you are in a luxury car. Put yourself behind the wheel again and feel the elegance. You have a powerful engine but glide forward instead of roaring ahead. You have the privacy of people staring at your tinted window wondering who you are but unable to look inside. Police are no longer waiting to pull you over but looking on enviously. The car sails so smoothly down the road that you might as well be weightless. The car has 4 doors for your friends and is fully loaded with state of the art amenities, gadgets, xm radio, gps and a host of other features. For $60,000 is there a comparison?

The hotel is the sports car. It’s a pretty picture from the outside until you are in the cramped interior. Service is at your beck and call 24 hours a day but how often do you really need that? How does it feel to be sandwiched with 500 other people and how often have you wondered how many people have the key to your room? How about wondering how many shady people have been through that room using the linens that you’re supposed to sleep on and are they really clean? How much time do you actually want to spend in the room itself and while the room is built for necessities and does this well, soon the cramped bedroom begins to take its toll. What conveniences are left out to focus on getting you in and out of the hotel to facilitate a faster turnover? Oh and you’re paying $160 a night plus having to carry a wad of cash around to tip everyone you run into.

LA Furnished Apartments is the luxury car. Spread your arms out on the couch and feel at home, which is what temporary housing is supposed to be. Have the conveniences of a home, not a hotel. Enjoy 3x the space in a fully decorated apartment. Friends over? No problem. Want to watch something on a premium channel? Can do on a 42” flat screen HDTV. Privacy? You’ve got it. High speed wifi? It’s faster than a hotels speed if they even offer it. Soap that doesn’t come wrapped in paper and then dries your skin out? Try our liquid moisturizing soap. Toilet paper that doesn’t double as sandpaper? We’ve got it and now so do you. Check our comparison page if you want some visuals. Oh, and enjoy your stay with us for $89 a night.

I don’t take credit cards. I’ve struggled with this for years although I may have come to peace with it recently. We’re in the Corporate Housing business. A SMALL business, family owned and operated but we are growing and I’d like to see us….but I’m getting off topic. Here is why I don’t take Credit Cards:

Charge-backs

This isn’t the primary reason but its the first answer one might guess. The fact is we have had very few people who might do this but out of hundreds of people there are going to be some bad apples. There always seems to be that one person who wants everything and doesn’t want to pay for any of it. (Essentially by the way, that’s exactly what we do. We give as much as we can and stay afloat with a tiny margin) The charge-back is rare, but not at all unheard of and especially during harder times. When I mention small margin, I mean just that. We make money through volume, exclusively. So a charge-back on one months rent would eat up the profits of at least 5 apartments and that’s not even considering that they usually have a 30 day head start to dispute the charges and if they stay in the apartment then there’s another 1-2 months for an eviction process until finally the sheriff gets involved. That is all a nightmare scenario but it has happened to every company in this field no matter how exclusive. This would hurt and it would hurt us badly. Anyone who has ever rented out property cringes just thinking about it.

Fees are still not our primary reason to turn down credit cards. You should know however that there is a big scam that many companies offer. They quote percentages way below the 2.5% but they don’t mention that when you swipe the card, they have to be “approved charges” to qualify for 1% or 1.5%. When the bill comes at the end of the month guess how many charges made it to the “approved” rate? Almost none. So, here’s the math: Say you rented out an apartment for $1,000/Mo and the rental itself costs you $850/Mo and this is after recouping your costs of furnishing the place (4-5 months down the line). Your profit is $150/Mo. The credit card company takes out 2 (-if you’re lucky)-2.5%. Not bad right? $3.78. Multiply that by 100 apartments and your profit is $15,000/Mo. That is before operating expenses, Fed, State, and Municipal taxes, salaries, bookkeeping, secretarial, sales team, evictions, vacancies, charge-backs, building repairs, utility overages etc. After all that you might take home $75,000 actual/annually. Pretty nice right? The credit card company has $4500 of your hard earned money. Thats not 2.5%, thats 16.66% of what you take home! What if you just started offering credit cards and sales go up 25%. Great! You come home with $93,750/year and with 25% more labor and a year later you realize that the harder you work, the more other people benefit, and you are still out 16.66% of what you take home. Fair? no. Life? I’m not going to answer that one

Its ethical and feels like the right thing to do. It works out well to because it gives us an even bigger edge against our giant corporation rivals (friendly rivals). If you believe that good things come to those who do good, then you understand my thinking and what I hope for. I used the figure that we were saving and lowered rents by that much across the board (and a little more). That was years ago. I still do the same today. While I lose clients who equate us with a West African/Nigerian sort of scam even though the BBB A+ logo is right out in front (and click-able!) and everything we do is transparent from the get go, I’m still going to lose a few clients and then some. I don’t like bearing the brunt of an others misfortune any more than you would, its just not right. Now I’m not saying I’ll never accept credit cards, but if I do, I’ll be damn sure my clients don’t suffer because of it.

I hope that many of you share this view and way of treating a client like any other person in your life, with respect and fairness. I’m not perfect by far, but isn’t this what its all about? Aspiring to be more than the sum of our parts? I would gladly welcome any feedback anyone might have. Thanks for reading

When time is money, a small business competing with giant corporations loses on two fronts. First, our sales team has to go into specific detail on every sales call (which we are happy to do but is a  resource consumer).  Secondly and this is where we lose the most time, is when we have to sell our services to a client who has no idea why our apartment is more expensive than an unfurnished unit they could find on Craigslist.  I.E. What is a Furnished Apartment?

Our definition of a Furnished or Corporate Apartment is a unit in a building that is chosen because of its amenities, location, quietness, cleanliness, and which have capable management. Anything less in a building is unacceptable. The unit itself has been cherry picked by us based on its location to the street, its view, the privacy, the natural light, spaciousness, possible fireplace etc. All of the utilities have been set up and paid for prior to our taking occupancy and we offer a host of features like 42″ flat screen HDTV’s with the most premium cable package, beautifully decorated, fully furnished with modern furniture, premium pillow-top beds, full sets of linens, kitchenware, etc. which are all included in the single rental price. We don’t charge our tenants taxes, fees, or hidden charges of any kind. We offer all of these services and beautiful upscale apartments for one rental fee and for a 30 day minimum stay. There are no yearly leases to sign. There are no shopping trips to purchase or rent anything at all. Everything our tenants could want is already at the apartment and waiting for them to move in. Comparing corporate housing to that of a hotel, extended stay, an unprofessional/possibly illegal sublet is a waste of what we could all use more of: time.

Ready to find your dream apartment today? Check out LA Furnished Apartments for the hottest and latest listings around!

Furnished Apartments are a much better alternative to staying in a cramped hotel room and truly feel like you are living at home. For all those used to traveling, after the first few minutes of walking into a hotel room, the first thing you do is put your things down and sit on the bed. You then look around at a small gray room with dim lights, stiff sheets, and all the comforts of a weekend at your in-laws. The rooms are so generically sanitized to the point of driving one from their hotel room to look for relaxation elsewhere. Haven’t you ever wondered why the bar in the lounge is packed no matter what time of day?

Amenities:

The list of features in our furnished apartments is truly amazing. High-Speed Wireless Internet, 42″ LCD Flat Screen HDTV with the Premium DirecTV package with over 250 Channels, Stereo CD Player, Unlimited Phone Service, Full Kitchenware, Linens, Towels, Soaps, Shampoos Etc. You name it, chances are we have it and much more. Each room is packed and decorated with everything you would want to make you feel at home (and hopefully a little more

We Actually Care:

LA Furnished Apartments is a family run business which was started in 1976. That means we have the experience, care and personal touch absolutely necessary for our clients to find the perfect short term apartment and enjoy a wonderful comfortable and problem free experience. We know your time is valuable, why not spend int in luxurious comfort?

Ready to find your dream apartment today? Check out LA Furnished Apartments for the hottest and latest listings around!