All Forum Posts by: Erin Spradlin

@Jamie Banks - That hasn't been my experience with my properties or with my midterm rental consulting clients.
I feel strongly that midterm rental hosts are better to drop their prices for a month or two to avoid vacancies than they are to let it sit. In my opinion, the marketing and pricing always comes down to: will I lose more money on my midterm rental by letting it sit vacant or will I lose more money by decreasing the price? From my experience, it's almost always letting it sit vacant. 
The benefit of having your medium-term rental as an Airbnb long-term stay is that you can adjust the pricing in the calendar on Airbnb so that if you are in slow season but moving into high season, you only have to take the pricing hit in the first month. This is harder to do in Furnished Finder/Zillow, but Airbnb has the functionality to do it. 

I have found that the midterm rental occupancy rate is as high or higher than the long-term rental occupancy rate. We have maintained a 92% occupancy rate in Denver for the past 24 months. For this reason, I would not budget this much time in. I think one month is acceptable/the first month you own the place is acceptable. After that, the vacancy on a medium-term rental should not be more than a week between reservations. 

Just sent you a message with a link. You'll find midterm rental checklists, etc. at that link as well. Thanks! 

@Isaiah Wilson - I have a medium-term rental lease that I can share with you for free... that said, I totally agree with that you should use a state-specific lease. Furnished Finder has an area to pull this, but last time I checked, it didn't load. I pull our Colorado lease from Zillow Rental Manager and then modify it to a midterm rental lease. By doing this, you make sure you are protected on the state and city level. Also, if you have an HOA just make sure, their specifications are also included.

When you get started, I recommend being on Airbnb and Zillow to start. That's where I've personally had the most luck. 

@Michelle FennIf your property in Garfield gets no attention, how have you been getting midterm renters? Have you found other demographics have been interested?

 My opinion is that people need to stop going after nurses in the midterm rental market because that market is seriously oversaturated with hosts and has a demographic (traveling nurse renters) that are shrinking. You have outsized competition and a group of tenants that are making less money and becoming unemployed. I am also letting my Furnished Finder listing expire. 

 @Alex Ng - Have you had any hits on Airbnb? I know you said no bookings, but any interest? 

When I'm advising clients on this, we start with making sure you are doing a whole house rental and that you are on Airbnb. The photos on Airbnb need to be professional (with the first photo being the outside or the kitchen.) The headline should also be strategic- take out anything that's vague or subjective (ex. light filled, spacious, near, cozy) and put in specifics (2 mi. to downtown, W/D in unit, etc.)
I also only focus on two platforms. For me, those are Airbnb and Zillow Rental Manager. I keep a 92% occupancy rate, so I'm confident those two can keep you booked. It just becomes a marketing and pricing issue. 

 @Ivan Aldana - My opinion is that the best property configuration for a midterm rental is a 3 bed/ 2 bath or smaller. Totally agree with @Bonnie Low about traveling nurses wanting their own space and not traveling in packs. 
The advantage to a 3/2 or smaller is that it will appeal to a lot of midterm rental demographics (remote workers, divorces, people building new properties, etc.) and the American family is shrinking (fewer and fewer people need a large home), so if you want to stay rented in the midterm space, a 3/2 or smaller is best.
However, appreciation is a different conversation for a different day.... 

 @Johnson Best Hey. Great question. Our occupancy rate across our properties is 92% with a very low vacancy rate of 8%. This is, actually, a common misconception in the midterm rental space: vacancy rates are high. That hasn't been my experience and I believe the desire for furnished long-term rents (6 mos, 1 year, etc.) will grow a lot more in the future now that people see it as an option. I know that if in my 20s I could have just moved myself instead of myself and all my junky furniture, I would have happily swept up a medium-term rental in Denver.

As to the cost of furnishing it... It's about $5K for a property + $1500-$2500/room, depending on how nice it is. You just need to take this into account when buying. 

Hope that helps. There is a reason midterm rentals are my favorite rental model.

@Veronica Giggers - A lot of my midterm rental consulting clients have this question, and I direct them to find a good cleaner two ways. The first is to search Facebook for a local recommendations groups (for us, Colorado Springs Word of Mouth cannot be beat) or to go to a real estate meetup. For a Facebook recommendations board, you just ask if anyone has a reliable cleaner or handyman. For a real estate meetup, you just go and start asking people if they have a cleaner or handyman they like. I've found that investors enjoy sharing their information and this is a great way to both start a conversation with a stranger, but also get information you need to have a successful midterm rental. 

@Alon A. - We've been doing midterm rentals since 2017 and the rule of thumb for a midterm rental calculator is:

Low Season: Long-Term Rents * 1.35 = Midterm Rate (usually Oct-Mar)

High Season: Long-Term Rents * 1.6 = Midterm Rates (usually April - Sept)

I pull my long-term rates from Rentometer or Zillow. Hope that helps!