Travel Nurse Housing: Is There a Demand for 3+ Bedrooms?

[Alex L.]

I've got a couple of 3 bedroom SFHs that I'm in the process of rehabbing, and am toying with the notion of listing them as MTR for travel nurses. I've noticed that, in my area, most travel nurse housing listed on Furnished Finder is 1 and 2 bedrooms. There seems to be a severe lack for 3 bedroom rentals, although that doesn't necessarily mean there could be a demand, either.

Does anyone with experience renting to travel nurses have any words of wisdom in this regard? I'd like to think that 3 bedrooms would be nice for those traveling with family/kids, but I could be entirely wrong.

[Bonnie Low]

Hi, Alex. I do have experience in this area. We have a 1/1 and are rehabbing a 2/1. We get a lot of inquiries from travel medical professionals and even couples who are traveling academics or relocating to the area. We also get random inquiries like from Utility linemen and seasonal forest service personnel. So the tenant pool is much larger than just travel nurses. That said,if your target is travel nurses, rent-by-room is less desirable than having the whole place to themselves. At a minimum, those sharing a house prefer to at least not have to share a bathroom with someone else. There are travel nurses who will do a shared home, but they don't want to pay much. If you broaden your target customer beyond travel nurses and other medical professionals, you may get traction with families relocating to your area or digital nomads looking for an extra bedroom or two to use as an office. I know some people are also having luck targeting insurance placements. But those tend to be higher quality properties with a full suite of amenities to accommodate families.