Traveling Nurses/Families level of living comfort vs surrounding areas

[Roman Puzey]

Hello,

We are trying to figure out on where to buy a property and rent out part of it to traveling nurse/MTR and if that doesn't workout revert to LTR. We have been seeing nicer homes around surrounding areas of Denver (specifically Thornton, Commerce City and Littleton) for the same price as they are closer to Denver but offer much more and we are wondering for example Some of our concerns are being far out from most things (5-10 miles) in terms of grocery stores, movie theaters, malls but being only 20 minutes out (15 miles) from one of the biggest medical campuses and close to the airport and we are worried that some the little things like aren't attractive to renters or traveling nurses, being too far out from some things but close to others. Would that matter if the place where they are staying is really nice on the inside and so is the community but not necessarily a lot of touristy things to do nearby? Or would that depend on people's level of comfort? Would like to hear any opinions on this

[Ben Rhodin]

Hey @Roman Puzey! Love all your questions regarding MTRs here on the forums, if you want any more specific Denver-minded advice or guidance, please reach out as it is one of our primary investment strategies here in the market currently. 

In general, our criteria is within 5 miles of two major hospitals. That is about the bare minimum, especially here in Denver, as there is a large concentration of hospitals, and a large concentration of housing opportunities. The closer the better, and if you can hit one of the hospital clusters, even better. There are a couple of pockets that I personally lean towards in the area, and am happy to share those with you to target your search a bit more. The second criteria will be the property itself. You want to make sure it is a quality unit, and typically a 1-2 bedroom (preferably a 2 bedroom). These rent the best and are what most traveling professionals are looking for. Then what I do, is go onto furnished finder and Airbnb, and other sites and vet the neighbor's properties. First to see what they are charging, but also to see what their unit looks like, most are not professional hosts and have terrible pictures or furnishings, and are charging under market. You also want to take note of the availability, if it says "available now" on all of the nearby ones, you may be in trouble, but if all of them are available a few months out, that usually means they are booked.

Just some quick thoughts, but the best advice is to have someone in your court that has done this before and is currently doing it, as your biggest hurdle to overcome is the mental block of being worried that it's not going to work. And that is never going away, but if you have someone that can guide you and assist you even past closing then you'll feel that much better! Reach out if you need anything else!