<HTML>In a message dated 6/9/03 6:37:08 AM Central Daylight = Time, cedel@supernet.com writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT= : 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Friends, >From time to time I've wondered if I could build a successful piano rent= al business.  Is anyone on the list doing this?  Is it worth the hass= le?  As I get closer to the typical retirement age I try to think of ways I can establish = a continuing stream of income while freeing up more time for volunteerism or e= ven the possibility of not being able to carry the workload I do now.  Any = helpful comments regarding aspects to remember and possible pitfalls? One possible misconception I have is that renting pianos, especially to customers who keep renting them for years, seems like taking advantage of th= e clueless, who would be better off going out and buying one.  On the oth= er hand, I can see the point of short-term rentals for people who move around a lot a= nd don't want the headache of moving the piano, but then there would be a lot m= ore piano moving involved, something I'm not particularly excited about. Regards, Clyde Hollinger </BLOCKQUOTE> Clyde I had a rental business for 5 years in St. Louis. I had the same idea as you= did, that it would be my retirement income. The concept is great, and it ca= n work. but there are some pitfalls. If I had to do it over again, I would d= o some things different. First of all, you need a large a mount of cash to buy the pianos in the firs= t place. Yes, money from the rent of pianos can be used for this, but if you= buy pianos with the rental income, then there is nothing left for retiremen= t income. 100 pianos, at an average of $300 each, is $30,000. You also need = money to pay the movers. And you might also need money to buy parts, and may= be a refinisher to do touch ups. Not all of the pianos are going to be out on rental all the time, so you nee= d a place to store and show the pianos. Even if you only have 5 or 10, you s= till need a place to put them. One thing I did wrong is that I made the piano available for sale. If I was = going to do it again, I would never have allowed my rental pianos to be sold= . If people want to buy a piano, either make an arrangement with a local dea= ler who would give the rental customer a discount based on how long they ren= ted a piano, or try to get a franchise for a lesser know good quality piano = manufacturer, to sell new ones. And last, you need someone to watch over the store. If this is going to be y= our retirement plan, you don't want to work it. So you need someone to do al= l the paper work. And believe me, there is a lot of paper work, even with on= ly 100 pianos. Income needs to be logged, and letters need to be sent for pe= ople who forgot to send in the rent. Then there are going to be the few peop= le who never send in the payments. I stopped my rental program 2 years ago, = and I have 5 renters who owe me money. Legally it is very difficult to get t= hem to return the piano, or pay the back rent. You also need to have someone with technical knowledge to tune and repair th= e pianos. Again, if this is going to be your retirement income, you don't wa= nt to spend all your time tuning and repairing the pianos. The person who do= es the paperwork can also be the technician. But it needs to be someone you = can trust, and can do good work. I'm not trying to discourage you to get into the rental business. But before= you do, think about the cost invloved and the consequences. Again, if I had= to do it over again. I would have taken the $20,000 I took out of savings t= o start my rental program, and invested it in stocks. I probably would have = more money now. Wim </HTML>