The Inn Place -- New Rentals, Old Pattern

The Inn Place grows better looking every day as Kevin continues landscaping around the units Click Here To See Photo Gallery

by Freda Parker

You might call Kevin McGuckin a Copy Cat -- a very smart Copy Cat who does not believe in reinventing the wheel.

As a participant in our September 2005 Workshop, Kevin studied the Monolithic construction process. He also inspected domes at and near our headquarters, including Monolithic's rental facilities.

What he saw and learned convinced him to build a Monolithic Dome rental complex. He chose a site about a mile outside of Brenham, Texas, a town of 13,000 located 80 miles east of Austin, where Kevin lives and operates a wholesale nursery.

Currently, Kevin is completing the final two of eight Monolithic Domes, each with a 20-foot diameter that encompasses a bathroom with shower, basin and toilet; a kitchen with stove, refrigerator, table and chairs; a furnished sleeping area.

Kevin placed a three-week ad in the local paper and quickly rented the first six units at The Inn Place. He said, "We got enough calls to rent all we had available at the time." Although he doesn't have a waiting list yet, he thinks he will in the future.

Following the pattern

In much of what he did, Kevin simply followed the pattern established by Monolithic. He avoided architectural fees by using plans provided by Monolithic, purchased furnishings like those used in Monolithic's rentals and copied Monolithic's rental contract.

"We have the same rules for renters that Monolithic has," he said. "We just went through the rule page and changed a few names and numbers, but essentially it's the same."

As for the shell construction, Kevin had Monolithic send Mike South with a crew to train Kevin's crew. "I wanted to make sure my people got better training than I could give them, and, during this project, I came down with a serious case of shingles," he said. "So Mike and crew came down and did parts of it. Otherwise, we would have had to shut down and I didn't want that."

A one- or two-person unit at The Inn Place rents for $120-$125/week, including utilities. Incoming residents pay a one-week security deposit, plus the first and last week's rent.

At this point, Kevin does not have an onsite manager. He said, "I'm doing it myself. We live just six miles away and we're still in construction, so I'm there most of the time.

"When renters move in, I give them a little stack of deposit slips and tell them to deposit their rent fees in the bank," Kevin added. "So they are doing direct deposit on their rents, and I go online to see who has and who hasn't paid, and, no, there is no way they can do a withdrawal."

Future Plans

Eventually, The Inn Place will include more than its present eight units. Kevin said, "I'm working with bankers now to get financing for eight more to build this summer. Then we will see."

He does not anticipate a problem in securing financing or city and county building approval. "I follow the rules and everyone has been very cooperative," Kevin said.

Note: Monolithic has a new website "http://www.domeliving.com" with rental information. It includes Resident Rules, Application, Floor Plan, Furniture Layouts, Information for Lenders and the article "Why We Need Io-20 Residence Inns."

March 8, 2007

Related links:

• Dome Rentals: A Much Needed, Profitable Project
• Monolithic Dome Rentals: Short-term and long-term rentals offer solutions to housing issues in the 21st century

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