All Forum Posts by: Joseph Bui

Hey Joseph—great question. I know we've already talked privately about this but I wanted to share my thoughts for the forums as well.

I actually run an STR over in that area (Morningside/east English Village), though mine is a bit unique—5 beds, 3 baths—so it tends to attract larger groups. I've never had traveling nurses personally, but I suspect my place is just too big and expensive for that segment.

That said, I’ve got a buddy who runs a couple of his homes in Harper Woods as STRs and does really well with it. He often gets bookings that last 3+ months, and one guest stayed nearly six months while his wife was receiving treatment at a nearby hospital. So yes, midterm rentals can definitely work in this area.

Just keep in mind it’s a bit more active than a standard long-term rental—you’ll be fielding more inquiries, managing turnovers, and coordinating cleanings more often. But if you’re okay with the extra involvement, there’s definitely a niche to fill.

Hi Joseph! 

I have been building my portfolio over in Lansing in the mid term rental space. Just an idea based on my experience and how I got started... I did not know how this market would be for mid term rentals and if there was even demand to fill. I looked at other mid term rental listings but clearly don't know about their inquiries and success. After listening to several podcasts, I heard you can list it as unfurnished with "furnishings to come." I posted my listing on Furnished Finder UNfurnished to get a feel for the demand as I was finishing renovations on the house (if you do this, still make sure you have great photos to make it stand out!). This does not always work but hear me out. I had to give it a few days to give it some traction and then I had 3 inquiries within a week. Travelers wanting to move in ASAP and they trusted that I would have it furnished nicely. Our current tenant paid for their background/credit checks and filled out their application within a few hours of inquiring and paid the first months rent to secure the place within 24 hours. Got him all set up in our system (TurboTenant) and he gave us a week to furnish it. Ever since then, we still get weekly inquiries on the property to the point where I'm buying another house over there and doing about the same thing haha. At this point, I have more tenant inquiries than houses and I'm realizing it is a great market for mid term rentals. At the beginning before I knew that though, I was not in a place to furnish an entire house for the off chance of it not working out. This is how I proceeded and it worked so it is an idea. If you decide to go this route, just make sure you have professional photography taken after furnishing before your tenant moves in so you can update your listing photos.

You never know unless you try! Best of luck.