MTR in Baton Rouge?

[Lisa Bain]

Is anyone doing medium-term rentals in Baton Rouge? I'm getting ready to buy my first investment property and trying to figure out my market. Baton Rouge seems like it could work well because of the hospitals and university, but I would love to hear about people's experience with MTRs in the area. Is there solid demand? What neighborhoods are you investing in?

Thanks in advance!

[Nick Gober-Keller]

Hey there,

Great to see you diving into the MTR scene! Baton Rouge has got a lot going on with all those hospitals and the university, so it's a solid choice for sure. Traveling nurses could be a real sweet spot for you.

But let's hit pause for a sec. You're up in St. Paul, right? Starting in your own backyard will probably be way easier. Running an MTR is a bit like running a hotel - guests need things, stuff breaks, you've got to be on the ball. With an LTR you can take a couple days to fix something.  Not the case with MTR.  They want it fixed right away like they would with a hotel.  Plus, decking out the place is way easier when you're in town.

But if you're all about Baton Rouge, it's cool. Here's a tip: hit up the HR departments at some local hospitals. I'd recommend you reach out to 15 to get a solid set of data points.  Then I'd go from there.Ask about their traveling nurses - how many, who's recruiting them, all that good stuff. Building a relationship with recruiters could be a game changer.

Props for stepping into the real estate world. It ain't easy, but it's worth it. You're asking the right questions and that's how you start. Keep on rocking it!

[Jeff Schemmel]

@Lisa Bain MSP has a lot to offer in the MTR arena. There are restrictions that keep you from scaling SHORT-term rentals, but 30+ day leases are not nearly as regulated. You could set your sights on a small SFH on the west side that is in close proximity to the Xcel center, W7th corridor, children's and regions hospitals, etc. I do a lot of work in these areas, owning rental property in Saint Paul, myself. My wife works at regions, and when we move out of our current 1 bed unit in our duplex we will be going that MTR route as well given our proximity to these places I mentioned as well as the state fair grounds.

[Reid Chauvin]

@Lisa Bain - I only rent LTR in Baton Rouge, but I do have a realtor friend who is having success with MTR. She owns several cheap condos that do quite well from what I understand. I'm more than happy to connect you with her if you want to speak with someone who has boots on the ground. Feel free to message me. 

[Bonnie Low]

You might start by looking at dashboard statistics on the Furnished Finder platform. This is probably the single most common booking site for travel medical professionals. While their data isn't perfect, it's currently one of the only sites catering exclusively to longer term furnished rentals. It will give you a general idea of demand for MTRs in your area. You can certainly try calling HR departments at local hospitals but very few want to talk to you unless you have multiple properties to offer. Most travel medical professionals prefer to accept the per diem in their contract and then find their own housing so the HR departments rarely place their travelers. You can also just enter your city in FF and select some dates and search as if you were a potential guest. This will give you an idea of how many units there are, how booked they are and what kind of features, amenities and quality the competition may have. I strongly recommend you run the numbers as an LTR when you do your underwriting so you have a fall back strategy if needed or if you decide running your MTR is more hands on than you thought it would be or are comfortable with. If the numbers work as an LTR, you can consider any additional rents you may get from using it as an MTR as bonus. 

[Lisa Bain]

Quote from @Nick Gober-Keller:

Hey there,

Great to see you diving into the MTR scene! Baton Rouge has got a lot going on with all those hospitals and the university, so it's a solid choice for sure. Traveling nurses could be a real sweet spot for you.

But let's hit pause for a sec. You're up in St. Paul, right? Starting in your own backyard will probably be way easier. Running an MTR is a bit like running a hotel - guests need things, stuff breaks, you've got to be on the ball. With an LTR you can take a couple days to fix something.  Not the case with MTR.  They want it fixed right away like they would with a hotel.  Plus, decking out the place is way easier when you're in town.

But if you're all about Baton Rouge, it's cool. Here's a tip: hit up the HR departments at some local hospitals. I'd recommend you reach out to 15 to get a solid set of data points.  Then I'd go from there.Ask about their traveling nurses - how many, who's recruiting them, all that good stuff. Building a relationship with recruiters could be a game changer.

Props for stepping into the real estate world. It ain't easy, but it's worth it. You're asking the right questions and that's how you start. Keep on rocking it!

 Hi Nick,

Thanks for your response! I definitely am interested in investing in my own area, but I like the affordability of other locations for this first property. Also, I spend part of the year in Louisiana, which could make it easier to furnish the property, etc.

You make some good points about the hospitality element of MTRs vs LTRs. Great to keep in mind, especially if I self-manage. (Or perhaps a sign NOT to self-manage and to have a great team in place to quickly respond to issues that come up.)

Appreciate your insights!

Lisa

[Lisa Bain]

Quote from @Jeff Schemmel:

@Lisa Bain MSP has a lot to offer in the MTR arena. There are restrictions that keep you from scaling SHORT-term rentals, but 30+ day leases are not nearly as regulated. You could set your sights on a small SFH on the west side that is in close proximity to the Xcel center, W7th corridor, children's and regions hospitals, etc. I do a lot of work in these areas, owning rental property in Saint Paul, myself. My wife works at regions, and when we move out of our current 1 bed unit in our duplex we will be going that MTR route as well given our proximity to these places I mentioned as well as the state fair grounds.

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for your response! I own my primary residence in the West 7th neighborhood and have been considering trying to rent it out as a MTR for part of the year when I head south to escape winter. It's a 3 bed/2 bath. My only hesitation is whether it will be worth it to clear out all of our personal stuff to get it renter-ready, but I believe it would be worth it if we secured a tenant for several months in a row.

Are any of your properties in St. Paul MTRs? Would love to hear about your experience.

Thanks!

Lisa

[Lisa Bain]

Quote from @Reid Chauvin:

@Lisa Bain - I only rent LTR in Baton Rouge, but I do have a realtor friend who is having success with MTR. She owns several cheap condos that do quite well from what I understand. I'm more than happy to connect you with her if you want to speak with someone who has boots on the ground. Feel free to message me. 

 Thank you Reid! I DM'd you.

[Lisa Bain]

Quote from @Bonnie Low:

You might start by looking at dashboard statistics on the Furnished Finder platform. This is probably the single most common booking site for travel medical professionals. While their data isn't perfect, it's currently one of the only sites catering exclusively to longer term furnished rentals. It will give you a general idea of demand for MTRs in your area. You can certainly try calling HR departments at local hospitals but very few want to talk to you unless you have multiple properties to offer. Most travel medical professionals prefer to accept the per diem in their contract and then find their own housing so the HR departments rarely place their travelers. You can also just enter your city in FF and select some dates and search as if you were a potential guest. This will give you an idea of how many units there are, how booked they are and what kind of features, amenities and quality the competition may have. I strongly recommend you run the numbers as an LTR when you do your underwriting so you have a fall back strategy if needed or if you decide running your MTR is more hands on than you thought it would be or are comfortable with. If the numbers work as an LTR, you can consider any additional rents you may get from using it as an MTR as bonus. 

 Hi Bonnie,

Thanks for this info - super helpful! I have looked at the Furnished Finder dashboard, but I'm not sure exactly what makes a strong market. Is there a certain number of searches/page views that I should be looking for? For example, Baton Rouge shows 17,000+ map searches and housing requests in the last 12 months. That's lower than some other cities I've looked at, but the Baton Rouge area is also a smaller population than some of those more major cities.

Appreciate your insight!

Lisa

[Konstantin Ginzburg]

I have not invested in Baton Rouge yet but I do drive through there often. However I do invest in nearby Lafayette and New Orleans and I have STRs, MTRs, and LTRs with some success. I think Baton Rouge is a market with a lot of potential for MTRs due to the student population from LSU which means I would likely target neighborhoods near the campus for investment if that is your strategy. If you do plan on investing long distance from MN, then I would highly recommend finding a property manager you feel comfortable with before you acquire the property. It helps immensely to have boots on the ground to not only provide quick repairs and maintenance but also to have someone able to do periodic checks on the properties and do minor repairs before they lead to longer term issues. I have a property manager for my Lafayette property while I reside in New Orleans. Even though, the 2 cities are only 2 hours apart; having that nearby property management has made a huge difference in not only saving me time but saved on long term costs since a good property manager is likely to have a maintenance team that will be able to do the job at a more affordable cost than if you need to search for contractors on your own when something breaks. One thing to also keep in mind for the Louisiana market, property insurance here is currently extremely high. Insurance has nearly doubled for my property owners in the last 2 years due to the hurricanes that have hit the region so there are very few underwriters remaining in the state. I have still been able to find cash flowing properties in this state, but it is far harder to do due to this increased expense. 

[Lisa Bain]

Quote from @Konstantin Ginzburg:

I have not invested in Baton Rouge yet but I do drive through there often. However I do invest in nearby Lafayette and New Orleans and I have STRs, MTRs, and LTRs with some success. I think Baton Rouge is a market with a lot of potential for MTRs due to the student population from LSU which means I would likely target neighborhoods near the campus for investment if that is your strategy. If you do plan on investing long distance from MN, then I would highly recommend finding a property manager you feel comfortable with before you acquire the property. It helps immensely to have boots on the ground to not only provide quick repairs and maintenance but also to have someone able to do periodic checks on the properties and do minor repairs before they lead to longer term issues. I have a property manager for my Lafayette property while I reside in New Orleans. Even though, the 2 cities are only 2 hours apart; having that nearby property management has made a huge difference in not only saving me time but saved on long term costs since a good property manager is likely to have a maintenance team that will be able to do the job at a more affordable cost than if you need to search for contractors on your own when something breaks. One thing to also keep in mind for the Louisiana market, property insurance here is currently extremely high. Insurance has nearly doubled for my property owners in the last 2 years due to the hurricanes that have hit the region so there are very few underwriters remaining in the state. I have still been able to find cash flowing properties in this state, but it is far harder to do due to this increased expense. 

 Thank you Konstantin! That is super helpful. Great info about the value of a local property manager, and I appreciate the heads-up on the insurance prices. Yikes! I will definitely keep that in mind before buying in this market.

[Bonnie Low]

Quote from @Lisa Bain:

Quote from @Bonnie Low:

You might start by looking at dashboard statistics on the Furnished Finder platform. This is probably the single most common booking site for travel medical professionals. While their data isn't perfect, it's currently one of the only sites catering exclusively to longer term furnished rentals. It will give you a general idea of demand for MTRs in your area. You can certainly try calling HR departments at local hospitals but very few want to talk to you unless you have multiple properties to offer. Most travel medical professionals prefer to accept the per diem in their contract and then find their own housing so the HR departments rarely place their travelers. You can also just enter your city in FF and select some dates and search as if you were a potential guest. This will give you an idea of how many units there are, how booked they are and what kind of features, amenities and quality the competition may have. I strongly recommend you run the numbers as an LTR when you do your underwriting so you have a fall back strategy if needed or if you decide running your MTR is more hands on than you thought it would be or are comfortable with. If the numbers work as an LTR, you can consider any additional rents you may get from using it as an MTR as bonus. 

 Hi Bonnie,

Thanks for this info - super helpful! I have looked at the Furnished Finder dashboard, but I'm not sure exactly what makes a strong market. Is there a certain number of searches/page views that I should be looking for? For example, Baton Rouge shows 17,000+ map searches and housing requests in the last 12 months. That's lower than some other cities I've looked at, but the Baton Rouge area is also a smaller population than some of those more major cities.

Appreciate your insight!

Lisa

 There is a stat on FF that will tell which cities in your state are getting the most searches on FF. This gives you some idea of the interest. For example, we are buying in Ohio. The Cleveland Clinic is a HUGE world renowned medical facility with many associated campuses so I naturally assumed demand would be highest in and around Cleveland. According to FF the #1 city in Ohio is actually Cincinatti. That surprised me. This was a 2021 statistic so that may no longer be the case, but it was helpful all the same. I do think that the popularity of FF is growing. Initially it was mostly travel nurses using the site. But more and more people are looking for furnished housing and it's more broadly used. That's a good thing for hosts as you're reaching a broader demographic. It's just still not a great platform and it shouldn't be confused with an OTA (Online Travel Agency) like Airbnb. It is NOT a booking platform. It's simply a lead gen platform. That surprises a lot of people. It could use a lot of feature upgrades IMO. Messaging in particular is very slow and wonky. After initial contact via FF I immediately move off platform or messages get missed or take forever to get through. Lots of room for improvement, but I've been using it exclusively and staying full so it does work.

[Lisa Bain]

Quote from @Bonnie Low:

Quote from @Lisa Bain:

Quote from @Bonnie Low:

You might start by looking at dashboard statistics on the Furnished Finder platform. This is probably the single most common booking site for travel medical professionals. While their data isn't perfect, it's currently one of the only sites catering exclusively to longer term furnished rentals. It will give you a general idea of demand for MTRs in your area. You can certainly try calling HR departments at local hospitals but very few want to talk to you unless you have multiple properties to offer. Most travel medical professionals prefer to accept the per diem in their contract and then find their own housing so the HR departments rarely place their travelers. You can also just enter your city in FF and select some dates and search as if you were a potential guest. This will give you an idea of how many units there are, how booked they are and what kind of features, amenities and quality the competition may have. I strongly recommend you run the numbers as an LTR when you do your underwriting so you have a fall back strategy if needed or if you decide running your MTR is more hands on than you thought it would be or are comfortable with. If the numbers work as an LTR, you can consider any additional rents you may get from using it as an MTR as bonus. 

 Hi Bonnie,

Thanks for this info - super helpful! I have looked at the Furnished Finder dashboard, but I'm not sure exactly what makes a strong market. Is there a certain number of searches/page views that I should be looking for? For example, Baton Rouge shows 17,000+ map searches and housing requests in the last 12 months. That's lower than some other cities I've looked at, but the Baton Rouge area is also a smaller population than some of those more major cities.

Appreciate your insight!

Lisa

 There is a stat on FF that will tell which cities in your state are getting the most searches on FF. This gives you some idea of the interest. For example, we are buying in Ohio. The Cleveland Clinic is a HUGE world renowned medical facility with many associated campuses so I naturally assumed demand would be highest in and around Cleveland. According to FF the #1 city in Ohio is actually Cincinatti. That surprised me. This was a 2021 statistic so that may no longer be the case, but it was helpful all the same. I do think that the popularity of FF is growing. Initially it was mostly travel nurses using the site. But more and more people are looking for furnished housing and it's more broadly used. That's a good thing for hosts as you're reaching a broader demographic. It's just still not a great platform and it shouldn't be confused with an OTA (Online Travel Agency) like Airbnb. It is NOT a booking platform. It's simply a lead gen platform. That surprises a lot of people. It could use a lot of feature upgrades IMO. Messaging in particular is very slow and wonky. After initial contact via FF I immediately move off platform or messages get missed or take forever to get through. Lots of room for improvement, but I've been using it exclusively and staying full so it does work.

 Thank you Bonnie! Appreciate all of this info. Very helpful!

[January Johnson]

Go here and look at demand in your area:

https://www.furnishedfinder.co...