Need Advice on a MTR in Los Angeles.

[Laura Yazdi]

When I listed my Single-family 2b/2b property back in July I thought I would be getting tons of requests. Especially when I compare my property to the other homes in the area because of it's proximity to a luxury golf course, the boarder of Rancho Palos Verdes (a high-end neighborhood). The property has great amenities including central heat and air, pet friendly, washer/dryer, great backyard + patio, an upgraded kitchen and bathroom, and upscale furnishings.

 I've gotten maybe 6 inquiries combined (through FF, AirBNB, and Zillow.) My price seems to be comparable to other listings with similar amenities. I could lower the price, but need to make $4200 to break even after 8% vacancy, maintenance 5%,  5% cap ex, monthly utilities, etc.
I would like to have it rented by September 1st. Do you find that your listing inquiries pick up closer to the availability date? Please let me know if you have any feedback on my listing links below.

 I've only gotten 2 direct booking requests from Furnished Finder. I follow up with unmatched FF leads and respond to every inquiry within 24 hours.  I have also listed it with relocation companies. Not sure what else I can do. 

www.airbnb.com/p/spbungalow

https://www.furnishedfinder.com/property/708291_1

https://spbungalow.com/ (property website only- no pricing)
I can:

A) Wait a few more weeks to see if I get bookings at the price I need to break even.mwhile I Continue following up with leads and insurance contacts.

B) Lower the price by $50 every week until I get a booking

C) Offer a discounted rate to my first 3 bookings on Airbnb to get reviews and have my property rank higher in the algorithm.

 Any other options anyone can think of? Thank you in advance for any feedback!

[Allen Duan]

Quote from @Greg Huson:

Laura

We have listed two properties as mid-term rentals in the LA area for 3-4 years now, exclusively through FurnishedFinder.  Previously, we would get high quality applicants quickly. Now with a current vacancy (Also in Pedro!), there aren't even any open 'housing requests' in our area, plus there seems to be a glut of available listings.  

Maybe it's August, but maybe FF has lost some mojo?  If 'zero activity' continues for another week, I'll need to scramble for more places to list.  (Today is Aug 8 2024)

Anyone else seeing this?  Any sense of FF loosing popularity? Or perhaps some other subtle change in the mid-term arena?

(Apartments.com has worked very well for our 'regular' rentals, I haven't tried it for the furnished units.)

 Hey Greg, we manage two 3 bedroom MTRs in San Pedro. You're right. Travel nurse demand and budgets dropped off in 2023. Our properties that we're getting mostly travel nurse bookings 2020-2022, rarely get travel nurse bookings now. It's normalized to pre-pandemic levels.

That being said, there are so many other MTR tenant types so don't limit yourself in your marketing. Furnished Finder is serving more types of tenants over time as well. But make sure you're also listed on Airbnb. You can also get some exposure to insurance bookings and corporate bookings. Both of our units in San Pedro have been booked with an insurance booking the last 10 months.