Richmond SCORE Chapter 12

Meet Slayton Dabney, President of Dabney Properties www.dabneyproperties.com, a corporate housing firm he started about four years ago. His niche is satisfying folks in need of upscale temporary housing. His clients include individuals on temporary business assignments and those who have their job relocated. Also, people displaced due to a property insurance loss, and Virginia legislators while the General Assembly is in session.

Dabney leases fully furnished apartments and condos at such downtown Richmond addresses as Vistas on the James, the Miller & Rhoads Residences, and the River Lofts. They also have properties listed in Richmond’s West End as well as Fredericksburg and Charlottesville.

Dabney says “I wanted to own investment property. When I was still working at IBM, I bought a townhouse and lived in it for
6 months. I furnished it and set it up to be a corporate unit. I advertised on Craigslist and an executive from Mead Westvaco contacted me, and signed a 6 month lease.”

Ownership is expensive, so the majority of properties are rented by Dabney Properties from property management companies
or their owners. Dabney then furnishes the apartments and subleases them to their clients. “Right now we have about 50 individual units, and all are rented”, says Dabney.

Dabney, age 33, received his master’s degree in business from Georgia Tech and completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia. He says “Initially a financial advisor and friend suggested I contact SCORE for guidance. In 2007 I called the Richmond SCORE office and was referred to counselor, Hank Farrell. At the time my business was less than a year old and Hank and I met several times. He offered me good advice in creating a viable business plan, website and promotional literature”. 
“I came to realize it was important to have a business line of credit if I was to continue to grow the business. Although the economic climate was deteriorating, we were able to secure a fairly substantial credit line from two banks”.

“Hank Farrell has proven to be a real friend. I have always felt like I could pick up the phone and Hank would be willing to meet with me at a moments notice. Dabney properties is grateful for the support we have received from the Richmond SCORE Chapter. You have made a real difference”, states Slayton Dabney.