Just Want to Clear Out and Travel? (Leave Your Keys With This Guy.)

You've dreamed about this.

You take a leave of absence, pack your bags and rent out your home for a nice profit. Then you use the money to fund an extended respite or an exotic trip.

I take up this fantasy every few months, with dreams of tracking rhinos across the Serengeti or of roosting in London to read classic books. But I'm more likely to curl up with a glass of Guinness at a pub in Ireland than I am with "Madame Bovary," which is why my wife laughs every time I bring it up.

I asked Tim Touchette, founder and owner of Attache Property Management, a company that finds corporate tenants for owners of fully furnished homes and apartments, what our Chevy Chase three-bedroom would fetch. It's furnished, but Versailles it ain't.

"Too far away from my office," said Touchette, 37. "I only manage properties around Dupont Circle, Georgetown and the Arlington area. Nothing north of Glover Park or Adams Morgan for now."

Touchette (pronounced TOO-shay) has carved out a nice little business that thrives on the power scene in Washington's unique economy.

Consultants, lobbyists, State Department employees and foreign visitors always need a place to crash for a few months or a year while they lobby Congress, learn a new language or tend to business and clients in the region. About half a dozen Obama appointees are currently renting Attache properties. Former Czech Republic president Václav Havel rented a Georgetown property through Touchette about four years ago.

"Our business relies heavily on the federal government, and our tenants either work directly for the government or they are one step removed from it," Touchette said.

The former University of Missouri journalism major and his four employees manage 120 properties for 100 absentee owners. The company collected $3.5 million in rent last year, pulling in around $700,000 for itself from the 20 percent fee it gets on each property.

Touchette pocketed $144,000 last year in periodic draws. His payroll is around $7,700 every two weeks, which comes to $200,000 a year. Employee health insurance costs another $12,000. Office rent for his 400 square feet (which he owns) in Dupont Circle came to $13,000. A company car, accountants, attorneys, 401(k) match, travel and other business expenses ate up the rest.

His four employees include an accounting manager who collects rent from tenants and forwards it to owners. A marketing and leasing manager shows the properties, writes contracts and scouts for renters. Two operations managers coordinate repairs, work with cleaners and schedule the move-ins and move-outs. Touchette meets with owners and also helps find tenants.

"We have to know each property . . . which key to use, which air filter, who we need to contact and how to get in the building," he said.