Communal Living: 8 Types of Coliving Properties

by | i-Stories, Property Trend, Rental Trend

Contrary to popular perception, communal living is not limited to property types. Coliving is purely a concept, a living experience, rather than a cast-iron structure.

Real estate investors can refashion any property into coliving spaces, like motels, villas, etc. Student dormitories are wildly profitable for communal living, given their layout and shared common areas. 

But what about spacious locales like a villa? That’s where you have to get a little creative. 

This article will explore the eight types of coliving properties and how you can make the transformation. 

Surprising Properties for Communal Living

1. Boutique Hotel

Converting a splendidly performing boutique hotel into a coliving space may not be the best strategy in this economy. However, it is achievable, and you can even diversify bookings and maximise profits with some excellent marketing.

Hotel apartments have always been the go-to residence for many in search of long-term rentals. And since hotels already boast common areas and facilities, these spaces can serve as places for co-working or socialising.

2. Hostel

Backpacker hostels are commonly sprawled across metropolitan cities, sustaining a steady stream of habitués through and through. Conversely, hostels in more suburban regions usually focus on peak seasons to generate high yields, halting operations during low seasons.

These mid to low seasons present an opportunistic time for hostels to thrive as coliving spaces. The only concern is how you can appeal to coliving guests, which is something a property management partner like Rumah-i can help with.

3. Adult Dorm

As we’ve broached, student dormitories share similar characteristics as coliving spaces. You can efficiently operate a communal living model during off-seasons like summer or winter when students are out.

If a college dorm is well-designed, you may even merge coliving areas and student rooms. Subsequently, students and tenants alike can utilise common areas such as co-working spaces, forming a miscellaneous group of people. 

4. Co-Working/Coliving Model

With proliferating populations of remote workers, co-working spaces could be a viable investment, especially in much-frequented travel destinations. Digital nomads who gravitate towards co-working spaces might ask you to recommend accommodations, so here’s your chance.

Co-working operators can partner with nearby housing providers to offer coliving and co-working packages. Nonetheless, it’s critical to market your model beforehand, lest your prospects have already arranged accommodation for themselves.

It’s also essential to disclaim that co-working and coliving have clear distinctions, and both concepts do not necessarily blend well together.

5. Villa

Transforming a rental villa into a coliving space does entail its risks. Unlike the sky-high prices of deluxe vacation villas, people aren’t willing to pay just as much for communal living.

While it’s challenging to establish a sustainable coliving business with villas, low seasons are a spectacular time to draw on. Let’s not forget, villas have luxurious amenities, including private swimming pools.

Marketing these features the right way would make your coliving startup irresistible.

6. Apartment

Apartment buildings are perhaps the most fruitful approach to coliving. There’s always room for scalability, and the balance between privacy and sociability hits just the right spot.

With a powerful subscription model, rental apartments offering coliving won’t have trouble attracting clientele. Not to mention, many property management companies, like Rumah-i, have made headway experimenting with coliving models for serviced apartments.

7. Single-Family Home

Another coliving market that rose to prominence is single-family homes. Renting single-family homes on a room-by-room basis can help curb the affordable housing crisis.

Nowadays, even studio apartments can eat up more of your income than landed properties. Coliving in single-family homes then serve to resolve this issue.

Although harder to scale and not as exciting of a concept, think about how even Facebook tycoon Mark Zuckerberg had this living arrangement in The Social Network.

8. Motel

Motels don’t have the best reputation but dust them off with modern renovations, and you have a tremendous coliving residence! Moreover, some motels inhabit prime locations that may attract travelling millennials looking for cheap dwellings.

Communal Living as a Unique Selling Point

Communal Living as Unique Selling Point

Why wait to monetise your property — any property — with coliving? As long as you comprehend the best way to get the highest returns with your specific property, that’s enough to devise a business plan.

You should also consider the number of rooms for your coliving offerings, and build new walls if you must. If you require a property management company’s prowess in this field, reach out to Rumah-i for some guidance!

Those looking to list their rental space for free can do so on our Home Renting App on Google Play or the App Store.

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