Renting to travel nurses

[Katherine Roberts]

Hi,

How much more work is it to rent to travel nurses than doing a long term rental? I found a nice looking property. The current owner rents to travel nurses (currently vacant for the first time in a year). The numbers make sense if I continue renting to travel nurses. It’s fully furnished. It’s less than 5 minutes away from multiple large hospitals and has been renovated. It’s also in an up and coming neighborhood… my only concern is the turnaround and upkeep. Any suggestions, advice, or things to look into? 

[Sean Monahan]

Hi Katherine.  I was a travel nurse for 6 years and also own multiple rentals that I rent out to traveling professionals.  It is just slightly more but not by much.  Contracts are generally 13weeks for the traveling professional.  I place them on a 90 day lease but also communicate to them that I understand the business and will release them with a confirmed contract cancellation (hospitals can cancel us any time they want).  I also review the market using furnished finder and Facebook pages to see how much is being charged.  A lot of people look up the stipends on the GSA website and try to charge for that amount.  Instead I rent for lower but also still higher than a 12 month lease and my vacancy is near zero because of that.  Traveling professionals love to stay where they can make the most amount of money and my investment being lower means less vacancy, happier tenants and less work.  Traveling professionals are also generally home owners so they don't bother you as much with small items that they can correct themselves.  I would say the most amount of additional work I need to do is email or text my clients every month or two (depending on their contract) if they will be resigning with the hospital and if so will they be resigning with me.  All in all I find it to be a great investment strategy.  Send me a message if you have any specific questions and good luck!