For many years, Martin Urman was a typical developer, focusing on selling apartments and renting out those which have not yet found their permanent owner for the long term. “Then we realised that as long as we manage them right, short-term rentals are actually more lucrative,” the owner of the CAPITAL Trust, a.s. company says. “But managing them was the key issue, as the managers we hired often failed us. Afterwards, we stumbled upon the possibility of medium-term rentals, and those turned out to be a really good solution,” the successful developer continues.
“All our apartments are for sale and yield over 30 million annually. Rents are necessary, because they repay the loan,” Martin Urman states. A few years ago he found the Czech platform Flatio, which helped him make his way towards medium-term rentals. These rentals usually last between one to twelve months, and this shorter duration makes them much more convenient for a big developer than long-term rentals, which can result in apartments being blocked for a much longer period of time. Compared to short-term rentals, on the other hand, they are easier to manage and more profitable.
“In our case medium-term rentals are a great solution, because ultimately they yield more profit than long-term ones. An apartment that we would rent long-term for 700€ per month can be rented for the medium-term for as much as 970€, bills included, on the Flatio platform. Thanks to the fact that our units are meant to be sold, they are available quite flexibly like this.” He is also glad that medium-term rentals allow him to focus on all potential buyers, not just those who respect the presence of a long-term tenant in an apartment.
Virtual tours, reliable tenants and one less thing to worry about
Thanks to Flatio, the whole renting process is a lot easier for owners of hundreds of investment apartments. This is because the technologies which the platform uses allow potential tenants to take a tour of the apartment via virtual reality. “This means that there is no need for a real estate agent and for doing these tours in person,” says Urman with appreciation, adding that: “This is one of the reasons why we want to continue renting out all our fully-furnished apartments for the medium-term. We already have 82 units up for rent on Flatio and we are gradually adding more. We are currently looking for a rental manager who would deal with these contractual relationships.”
He is also happy about the characters of the tenants who rent the apartments. “The vast majority of tenants we get through Flatio pay their rent on time. Plus, Flatio can ensure that the rent is paid should any problems arise,” the company owner maintains. Moreover, he is of the opinion that medium-term tenants also tend to cause less problems, especially thanks to the multi-level customer checks which Flatio does.
