Rental Property Investor · Huntington Beach, CA · Member since 2021 · 7 posts · 1 vote
Hey guys,
I have a few questions. I'm in escrow on a 5 bed, 5 bath single family house and plan to rent out rooms to travel nurses or other monthly tenants. I've never considered renting out units monthly, so I haven't really done my research on midterms. Only on STRs and LTRs, so I feel like I'm out of my depths in a short period of time. Do you recommend renting out rooms on Airbnb, FurnishedFinder, or VRBO? Or all of the above? I know there are pros and cons to everything, but I don't have much time to learn everything before closing. I would love any advice on the subject. Thank you in advance!
Additionally, each room has a bathroom. It has two kitchens, one upstairs and one downstairs. Before it was renovated, it had a third kitchen (it may have been a kitchenette).
I have a few questions. I'm in escrow on a 5 bed, 5 bath single family house and plan to rent out rooms to travel nurses or other monthly tenants. I've never considered renting out units monthly, so I haven't really done my research on midterms. Only on STRs and LTRs, so I feel like I'm out of my depths in a short period of time. Do you recommend renting out rooms on Airbnb, FurnishedFinder, or VRBO? Or all of the above? I know there are pros and cons to everything, but I don't have much time to learn everything before closing. I would love any advice on the subject. Thank you in advance!
Additionally, each room has a bathroom. It has two kitchens, one upstairs and one downstairs. Before it was renovated, it had a third kitchen (it may have been a kitchenette).
Hello,
We are in Huntington beach and we host travel nurses
We also own a cabin in big bear and 2 other cabins in tennessee
@Eve Velasquez Congrats on going under escrow! I would definitely consider renting monthly and would look to use Airbnb and FurnishedFinder. In my experience as a host and guest on VRBO, I don't think VRBO is as well situated for by the room rentals as its competitors.
Pros of renting monthly will be less turnover, less wear & tear, and less admin work on your end (think guest communication, coordination, etc.)
Cons of renting monthly will be less gross rental income if renting by the month and not by the night and the fact you'll have to put up with disruptive/annoying guests (if any) for longer.
Overall, I think having monthly rentals would be a better setup for a rent-by-room situation. I think having so much turnover and churn with nightly rentals could create some awkward experiences and make some of your guests feel uncomfortable.
I was close to offering on a place here in LA County a few months back, and my plan was to rent it monthly be the room on Airbnb, Apartments.com, Zillow, and FurnishedFinder. I was going to start with 1 month minimums and see if there would be a market for 2 or 3 month minimums. In a place like Huntington Beach, I think that could be realistic. Just know you'll spend the first 6-12 months tweaking prices, minimums, etc. to find what strategy works best for that area.
@Eve Velasquez I have found the most success on FurnishFinders! It also is great for comparable. Typically I see the cash flow land somewhere in-between LTR and STR. Closer to the STR side. Pros are more cash for sure! Cons might be the turn over and more active management but worth it in my opinion.
Is it possible to make it two unofficial units? I prefer renting out whole units than by the room. Sure you might make a little more but its a lot of turnover, tenants and leases.
Furnished finder is definitely an important place to network. If you get the nurse's recruiters info and/or the insurance adjuster, you can continue a relationship and they will bring you higher paying contracts (basically STR rates) than you will find on FF. FF is a discount site that nurses go to when they are being thrifty. Contracts can also work are a larger space like a 5 bedroom.
I have a few questions. I'm in escrow on a 5 bed, 5 bath single family house and plan to rent out rooms to travel nurses or other monthly tenants. I've never considered renting out units monthly, so I haven't really done my research on midterms. Only on STRs and LTRs, so I feel like I'm out of my depths in a short period of time. Do you recommend renting out rooms on Airbnb, FurnishedFinder, or VRBO? Or all of the above? I know there are pros and cons to everything, but I don't have much time to learn everything before closing. I would love any advice on the subject. Thank you in advance!
Additionally, each room has a bathroom. It has two kitchens, one upstairs and one downstairs. Before it was renovated, it had a third kitchen (it may have been a kitchenette).
Hello,
We are in Huntington beach and we host travel nurses
We also own a cabin in big bear and 2 other cabins in tennessee
The biggest challenge I see with renting out by room is handling the relationships and interactions between guests and shared spaces. Creating and enforcing house rules as well as policies of what you'll do when guests have conflicts would be important.
We get almost all of our mid term bookings from Furnished Finder and Airbnb. VRBO only does whole home rentals. I definitely recommend doing research for the mid term rental demand in your area. Do you have hospitals nearby? Compared to LTR and STR, MTR earns more than LTR, less than STR, and is more work than LTR and less work than STR, in general =)