Hidden Costs of Maintaining a Laundry Program for Tenants

Your apartment or condominium complex needs laundry facilities, doesn't it? After all, where else will your residents be able to wash and dry their clothing, short of forcing them to have to haul their soiled garments to the local laundromat?

You might also be trying to pocket a little profit from your on-site laundry facilities. The truth is, however, you could actually be losing money from the laundry equipment you've got on the premises if you are not careful.

Both the upfront and ongoing costs of maintaining your site's laundry room and equipment could be eating away at any profits you might be making. Where do some of the costs of maintaining and housing a laundry facility for your tenants lie? More importantly, how can you provide extra value for your tenants when it comes to laundry service without breaking the bank?

Laundry Equipment Purchases

A huge cost of an on-site laundry program is buying the actual equipment itself. As anyone would guess, washing machines and dryers are very expensive, especially commercial models. The cost of such equipment can be as high as $2,000 or more per unit, depending on the size, features, make, and model.

While there may be deals to be had when purchasing in bulk, the numbers can really add up when buying several units at once.

The Cost of Space

Your laundry equipment will need to be housed somewhere, and a dedicated laundry room is the most logical answer. Not only will the space need to be created, but it will likely need to be updated from time to time.

Having the laundry equipment installed, adding a plumbing system for the washer, installing electrical wiring robust enough to handle the loads, and installing dryer vents are all upfront costs of creating a laundry room. From there, ongoing costs will include calling in plumbers and electricians if upgrading or troubleshooting is ever needed.

Repair Costs

Considering how often the washers and dryers will be used to accommodate all the tenants in the complex, it's likely that issues with the equipment will arise on a regular basis. This will entail frequent calls to have the equipment repaired and serviced to ensure that the tenants won't have to deal with major interruptions to doing their laundry.

Ongoing Maintenance

Besides paying for repairs, there is also maintenance to consider. Regular maintenance on these machines is important to help avoid costly breakdowns that would require you to completely replace the machines, which is an expensive endeavor. Further, machines that are not working properly could even pose a risk of potential water damage to your building.

Replacing water hoses, cleaning the lint filters, keeping the machines level, and actually washing the machines inside and out are just some of the tasks required to ensure optimal-working laundry equipment.

Clearly, there are plenty of costs associated with having a laundry facility on site. While some property managers manage to turn a profit from what they charge their tenants to use such facilities, many others lose money. The key to a profitable laundry service on your site is to consider all these costs and bake them into the fees you charge tenants for the service.

However, there is something more you can do to provide high-quality laundry services to your tenants while keeping your costs in check.

The Tide Cleaners Solution

An innovative service like Tide Cleaners can help you provide your tenants with an amenity they will love without straining your budget.

A cutting-edge laundry and dry cleaning service, Tide Cleaners provides laundry and dry cleaning lockers for property managers to offer their tenants. Tenants simply drop off their clothing at these on-site laundry and dry cleaning lockers and enter their cleaning order via a convenient, always-available online app. From there, Tide Cleaners professionals handle everything from dry cleaning to wash and fold services to alterations, with no effort needed on your part.

Though the lockers take up very little space in your building, they provide big results when it comes to keeping your tenants happy with the premium services provided.

Not only will your tenants be given a much more convenient and nuisance-free solution to their dry cleaning needs, you as a property manager can also experience cost savings and minimal effort. Everyone's laundry and dry cleaning needs will be met, with a minimal footprint in your apartment or condominium complex.