While I was a bit nervous until they signed the lease and paid the rest, it worked out well.Wanted to add that you need to check your landlord/tenant laws as I was so nervous because in MD, if you sign a lease but don't come through, the landlord can be held liable for paying for temporary lodging for the new tenant if his unit is not ready for any reason, but I was very certain of the dates and condition of the unit or I wouldn't have done it.  

When we find them, we want to keep them.If we were renting luxury apartments and homes in the A market to A tenants, as @Elizabeth Colegrove is doing, the market response would be different.  

I did not have the luxury of buying regular single family homes with little profit for many years and waiting for them to be paid off.So I came up with a better way.  

Seems one could start with a lease and convert to a month-to-month rental agreement after 6 months and avoid the transient lodging tax. 

In CA anyway, there is a huge luxury tax on short term rentals, less than 30 days. 

Since we had built it out ourselves we had the luxury of making it handicap accessible all on one level. 

Luxury homes will drop much more because there will be fewer buyers.

@Johnna Lodge, thanks.

To a certain extent, I recognize that this can be a function of the environment of the rental and the market for which you're aiming - obviously a luxury unit will not have a $350 refrigerator.

I see your point, but I don't have (or want) luxury of waiting 5 weeks without a non-refundable deposit to cover my time.