What you need to know about corporate leases

Corporate leases are an integral part of business and provide essential income for residential property owners and high-quality furnished accommodation for corporate renters.

It’s a growing industry that has survived the pandemic and is surging in popularity thanks to decent returns and cost savings over hotels.

If you’re a property owner, corporate leases can provide respectable income from a higher quality of tenant.

If you’re a company, corporate leasing provides furnished accommodation for staff that offers more than a hotel while costing much less.

Whichever side of the transaction you’re on, corporate leases are an essential ingredient of modern business and something it pays to understand the best you can.

As there are two sides to the corporate lease story, we’ll tackle both in turn.

We’ll begin with the property owner side before switching to renting a corporate apartment as an employer or employee working away from home.

But first, let’s cover the basics…

What is a corporate lease?

A corporate lease is a formal agreement between two parties, the property owner and a property manager or company.

A property owner can work with a housing provider such as Blu Corporate Housing who will manage the property, rent it out and look after it. A property owner can also work directly with individual companies who want to rent it. Both can provide respectable returns but one will require more work on the owner’s part than the other.

On the flip side, a corporate lease can also be an agreement for a company to rent a property for a given period of time. This is the same as a corporate rental, furnished rental, corporate housing, short term rentals, serviced apartments and a number of other names.

Companies rent a furnished property for a set period, typically 30 days or more to house employees and staff.

The property owner or manager provides all furniture and housewares, utilities, internet and all the comforts of home. The renter will pay typically all-inclusive rent to use that property.

Corporate leases will have a minimum rental period of 30 days with no upper limit. Companies can rent properties for up to a year or more depending on their needs.

Corporate leases as a property owner

If you own residential property, you can provide corporate leases to generate an income.

They are a viable alternative to private leases and have definite upsides.

For one, you’ll typically get a higher standard of tenant that will look after your property much better than a private rental.

While everyone is different of course, people can behave much differently and look after other people’s property much better when their job could be on the line!

That, and the higher rents that can be charged, is enough for many property owners to want to stick to corporate leases rather than private ones.

There are extra demands to be met if you plan to offer corporate leases.

They can include:

• Higher standards of property in nicer areas
• High quality furniture throughout the property
• Bedding, soft furnishings, kitchenware and everything a renter might need
• Arrangements with utilities for temporary accommodation
• Extra services such as a cleaner, maintenance, grocery deliveries and so on

If you’re renting direct to corporate renters, you’ll need to arrange all these yourself and make sure they are maintained ready for tenants. If you use a management company, they can take care of much of this for you.

Company renters will usually look for apartments and single family homes. They will need to be close to transport links, business districts, universities, medical centers and areas of high employment.

If you live in a city with a signature employer, the closer you are to them, the better.

Properties suitable for corporate leases

We mentioned earlier that corporate leasing offers a higher income but requires more investment.

But exactly what types of property is suitable?

• Apartments, town homes, single family homes and rural homes
• Properties close to major employers, corporate headquarters or military bases
• Downtown properties or those close to business districts, medical districts and other high employment areas
• Locations close to building projects, oil and gas fields, seaports and other areas that might need accommodation

Like with any investment, due diligence is required to assess competition, the viability of a particular property, demand and future development or expansion within a given location.

The type of property you select for corporate leasing will depend on your target market.

C-level staff and executives will require a higher quality of accommodation. Project staff, government staff and any medical staff who work shifts will require more security than most.

Construction workers, oil and gas workers and blue collar staff will want accommodation close to amenities within a short distance of work.

What you’ll need in your corporate lease

If you decide that corporate leasing is right for you, there are a few more considerations you’ll need to make.

Once you have the property, you’ll need to outfit it ready for renting. That will include furniture, bedding, crockery, cutlery, kitchenware, TV and internet and everything that makes somewhere a home.

You may also need to include rugs, artwork and extras depending on your target audience.

You may also need to include an alarm system, CCTV and extra security for military personnel or government employees.

Finally, you’ll need to decide whether to manage the rentals yourself or use a management company to do it for you.

We are obviously biased, but we think using a property company like Blu Corporate Housing makes most sense.

We take care of everything for you, manage tenants, utilities, repairs, maintenance and everything else on your behalf.

You’ll still make a decent income from the corporate lease, just without the hassle!

Corporate lease as a potential tenant

If you’re a company looking for a corporate lease, furnished rental, corporate apartment or whatever you want to call it, you have different priorities.

Typical clients want spacious properties maintained to a high standard, close to areas of employment at an accessible price.

They also require turnkey accommodation, full support throughout the rental and fully inclusive rents.

All things Blu Corporate Housing can provide in the thousands of corporate apartments we have on our books.

Corporate leases work for companies because they offer so much more for so much less.

The average corporate lease costs around half of a comparable hotel room for stays of 30 days or more.

Hotels are great for vacations. Who doesn’t like room service or having their laundry done for them?

But for longer stays, a hotel gets very old very quickly. Plus, all that noise, having to share spaces with hundreds of other people and almost zero privacy.

The final nail in the coffin of hotels is being nickel and dimed for everything. Want to call home? There’s a call charge for that. Need a shirt ironed for a meeting? There’s a charge for that.

Corporate leases on the other hand, give you everything you need.

You get your own apartment or house to live alone or share with colleagues. You have your own private space, your own kitchen, living area, perhaps a balcony or yard and space to breathe.

You also have privacy, peace and quiet (usually) and all the comforts of home.

You aren’t nickel and dimed either.

Sure, you’ll need to pay for cleaning or grocery shopping but these are configured within the rent in advance. There are no extra charges and no hidden fees either.

What you get with a corporate lease

If you read the ‘Corporate leases as a property owner’ section, you’ll know that you get everything.

You’ll get your own property, apartment or home. You’ll get all furniture, all bedding, towels, kitchen appliances, cookware and everything you need.

Most corporate rentals are fully equipped with everything and all you need to do is bring your suitcase. Everything else will be included in the rent.

That can include:

• All furniture in all rooms
• Everything the average kitchen and bathroom would include
• Private entrance with your own bedroom
• Outside space with a balcony or yard
• Any extra services you need such as maid service
• Access to any building amenities like social spaces or pool

We know you’re there to work so we’ll take care of everything for you. We handle utilities, internet, TV, bills and all the boring stuff that takes up time at home.

All you, or your employers needs to do is tell us what you’re looking for, where and when and we can handle the rest.

We are also here to help with anything during the stay. Whether that’s repairs, requests for extra services or changes to your schedule.

While a corporate lease is for a set period, we are flexible enough to be able to adapt. Business moves fast and we are here to help you keep up.

Need to extend your stay? No problem. Need to house more people? We got your back.

Whatever you need, whenever you need it, we are here to help.

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Corporate lease FAQs

We hope we have answered most of the questions you have about corporate leases. If not, perhaps you’ll find the answer here.

What role do management companies play in corporate leases?

Management companies play an important role in corporate leases. For the property owner, they take all the work away out of letting a property. We manage everything so you don’t have to while providing a financial return. For companies, we also manage everything so you don’t have to and make sure your staff can move in with minimum fuss so they can get right to work. It’s all part of the service!

What’s the difference between a corporate lease and a vacation rental?

There are many differences between a corporate lease and a vacation rental. Differences include the time you’re there, vacations are typically shorter, corporate leases are mainly for companies while vacation rentals are usually private and the location.

Corporate leases tend to be Downtown or close to business districts while vacation rentals are close to the beach, to entertainment and other amenities.

How does a corporate lease work?

A corporate lease works by renting out a property for a set period for a defined amount of money per month. They tend to be more flexible than commercial or industrial leases due to the nature of business but are similar in many other ways.

You find a property, agree a rental period, agree a monthly fee and sign a contract. That’s all there is to it.

All about corporate leases

As you have seen, you can approach corporate leasing from two directions. One from the perspective of the property owner and one from the perspective of a company wanting furnished accommodation.

For the property owner, a corporate lease is a way to generate income from residential property. It typically enjoys high occupancy, a higher quality of tenant and higher returns than other types of property rental.

For the company looking for corporate accommodation, these leases provide a cheaper option than hotels while providing more amenities, more space and more privacy.

You also get the benefit of all amenities and fully inclusive rents!

Whichever side of the transaction you’re on, life is made easier with companies such as Blu Corporate Housing.

Contact us the next time you have or need a corporate lease. We’re the people to call!