We run a washer and dryer rental fleet, and this guide is the version of the business we wish someone had handed us on day one — the actual mechanics, the actual math, and the mistakes that cost real money. No course for sale at the end; the templates are free.
The model in one paragraph
You buy used washers and dryers cheap, fix what needs fixing, and rent them monthly to people who have hookups but no machines — renters who don't want to drop $1,500+ at a big-box store or haul appliances between apartments. A set that costs you $300–500 all-in rents for $45–60/month, delivered and installed. Somewhere around month 8–12 the set has paid for itself; everything after that is margin, minus the occasional repair. It stacks: every set you add is another small monthly annuity.
Those are typical ranges, not a promise. Your buy price, your local rent and your repair rate decide the real payback month, which is why the tracker below exists.
Step 1 — Buy your first sets.
Facebook Marketplace is the primary sourcing channel: moving sales, "worked when we unplugged it," landlord cleanouts. Check completed comparable listings so you know your local buy price. Estate sales and scratch-and-dent outlets fill the gaps.
Five rules that pay for themselves: buy in matched pairs where you can, because a set rents faster and for more than two singles; take the top-load washer over the front-load until you can service door seals yourself; walk away from anything with a bearing whine, a cracked drum spider or a rusted-through cabinet, because that is a parts bill, not a machine; run every unit before it leaves the seller's driveway, on their power, through at least a fill and a spin; and pay less for the pair by taking the whole lot when somebody is clearing a rental property. Log every purchase in the tracker from day one — source, cost, serial — because payback-per-machine is the number this business runs on. Free tracker →
Step 2 — Refurb and test.
Every machine gets a full cycle run and hoses inspected or replaced. Budget an average repair cost per machine into your all-in cost. A machine you wouldn't put in your own house doesn't go on a truck.
The checklist that stops the callback: pull and clear the entire lint path, not just the screen — the duct, the blower housing, the felt seals; replace both fill hoses and the drain hose, every time, because a $12 hose is cheaper than one flooded apartment; check the door and tub seals for tears and grit; level the feet on the machine's own base, then re-level once it is installed; run a full hot cycle with a cleaning tablet and leave the door open to dry; and wipe the cabinet, the drum and the dispenser until it photographs like something you would put in your own home. It will be photographed — that is the listing.
Step 3 — Price it.
Under-pricing is the beginner mistake — you're not competing on a $10 difference, you're competing with the laundromat's lost Saturdays and the big-box store's $1,500. Structure: first month charged on install day, card-on-file autopay, 3-month minimum, month-to-month after.
Step 4 — Get the contract right before delivery #1.
One page, signed before the truck is loaded: minimum term, autopay authorization, relocation fee, pest clause, damage waivers, ID photo on file. This is the difference between a business and a favor you do for strangers.
Our full annotated agreement is free: the rental agreement we use. Also worth ten minutes: why the initial term stays at 3 months.
Step 5 — Delivery and installs.
You need an appliance dolly with straps, a truck or trailer, a basic hand-tool kit, spare fill and drain hoses, and a second pair of hands for stairs. Install to existing connections only — the moment you're modifying plumbing, you're in a different (licensed) business. Photograph every install.
Step 6 — Find renters.
Marketplace listings do the heavy lifting: clean photos of installed sets, price, "delivered + installed + we fix it free." Refresh listings on a schedule. Door hangers let you pick your buildings. After the first ten renters, referrals start doing quiet work.
Complexes with in-unit hookups and no provided machines are the target; the print-ready template and the targeting method are free: the door hanger →
Step 7 — Operate like it's a fleet, not a favor.
Autopay from day one — never texts, never Venmo requests. Declines get resolved inside your grace window or the retrieval clause starts. Track every machine's status and payback.
Under ~5 sets a spreadsheet handles this; past that, the admin starts eating weekends, which is why we ended up building DrumFleet — 14 days free with no card, so you can start there rather than on a paywall.
The honest downsides
Machines break at dinner time. Some renters ghost. Stairs exist. Your garage becomes a staging warehouse. It's a genuinely good small business, but it's a sweaty one — the margin is real because the work is real.