How do you attract travel nurses?

Question

I’m curious how other landlords or managers are attracting travel nurses to your MTR? What is the best strategy? How do I contact and advertise to hospitals?

Bailey Kramer · Answer

Hey Keith!  Furnished Finder has been my go-to for keeping my properties booking with travel nurses!  My biggest tip is to respond to EVERY inquiry even if they have a lower budget than you want.  A lot of times, they have more wiggle room in their budget than they initially say!

Jeremy Jareckyj · Answer

Having nurse friendly amenities is important : blackout curtains, allows pets (many bring pets), good mattresses

Zachary Deal · Answer

Like a lot of folks have mentioned Furnished Finder, Facebook, Airbnb and VRBO for 30+ day stays. I'd recommend also reaching out directly to any hospitals in your area directly. You could try asking for the HR/Staffing department and see if they can point you in the right direction. If you're not having luck it could be worth going to the hospitals in person and bringing some info/pictures of your listing

Allen Duan · Answer

Hi Keith! Start with the basics, list on all the sites travel nurses use to find housing. In Los Angeles, where we manage MTRs, Airbnb and Furnished Finder have been our top booking sources. Facebook groups have also worked well for us.

Some hospitals help their travel nurses with sourcing housing, some don't. So reaching out directly to hospitals may or may not be a useful strategy. There are travel nurse agencies like Aya Healthcare who provide housing for their nurses, but many nurses in my experience are looking for their own housing on the listing sites and Facebook.

On the property side of things, like Eliott said, you need a space that is attractive to nurses. Distance from hospitals, property size (studios and 1 bedrooms probably do best), amenities like black out curtains and other comforts of home.

Last thing I'll say is don't target just one MTR tenant type. Any property should be set up to market to as many tenant types as possible. The same properties nurses like should also attract other individuals or couples traveling for other reasons. Don't limit yourself =)

Nicole Heasley Beitenman · Answer

Between FF, Zillow, and AirBnb, we really haven't had to do much legwork to keep our property booked. We're also on VRBO, but I've yet to get a single lead from them. If those 4 channels all hit a lull at once, my next stop would be FB Marketplace. Only then would I worry about reaching out to hospitals directly.

Elton Tate · Answer

@Keith Mintz, Another thing to consider about Furnished Finder is that insurance agencies use the site to find clients' housing during home repairs or other circumstances outside their control. I've noticed that many insurance agencies reach out for possible bookings. Unfortunately, most dates coincide with Airbnb guests' stays at my property, so I don't have much experience in that area yet, but I look forward to finding out.

One con about Furnished Finder so far is the messaging system, but most people prefer to reach out via phone. Make sure you have your phone number listed.

Miguel Del Mazo · Answer

For us, furnishedfinder leads have dropped off somewhat since the pandemic, but I don't think that is the fault of FF. Rather, I think travel nursing is in a bit of a lull right now.  The long-term trend will likely see a rebound though as the need for traveling medical professionals is likely to remain high.

AirBNB and VRBO are much more capitalized than FF, and they seem to be making a push to get more market share of the MTR renter pool.  Savvy renters know that they will save money booking your unit through FF, but there are a lot more folks who are used to defaulting to looking on AirBNB.  With that said, FF is only $149 a year after the price increase. If FF helps you save 2 or 3 days of vacancy in the whole year, it probably just paid for itself.

Keith Mintz · Answer

An ok. You really find finish finder a good way to get these kinds of tenants? I hear mixed reviews of furnish finder

Jeremy Jareckyj · Answer

Totally agree! Most will try to lowball at first :)

Eliott Elias · Answer

The best way is to buy a property within the vicinity of the hospital they work at.

How do you attract travel nurses?

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