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Mid term rentals are a game changer, if you do them right. If you come from the short term rental world and want to diversify your strategy a bit, this is one you need to pay attention to.
The best thing about being a short term rental host and converting to mid term rentals, is you understand guest experience. This, having a quality listing and professional level systems are what matter in the mid term rental world.
This post is all about mid term rentals.
Best Mid Term Rentals Host Tips
1. What is a Mid Term Rental
To put it simply, mid term rentals are rentals that allow longer than 30 night stays in a fully furnished listing but are typically shorter than 1 year stays. The guests that are booking these places are usually traveling professionals working on a project for a 3 to 6 month period, traveling remote workers looking to stay in a new city or traveling nurses.
As a host, it’s attractive from a turnover standpoint because guests are staying long term and the property doesn’t require so much cleaning. It also means high occupancy and these travelers are willing to pay a premium because they know their lease is short term.
To be clear, these guests are still looking for a fully furnished and well designed unit. They still want an experience and one that is better and more homey feeling than a hotel. If you’re totally new to this game versus converting from a short term rental over to a mid term rental, you need to approach this using all my short term rental host tips.
Are you new to Airbnb? Use my referral link and I’ll coach you through setting up your first listing! Airbnb will give you a $48 bonus for using me as your Airbnb ambassador for listing set up after hosting your first guest!
2. Mid Term Rentals Website
The best places to capture mid term rental tenants are on these websites. Number 1 and 2 being the best spots.
- Airbnb
- Furnished Finder
- Facebook groups and Marketplace
- Long term rental advertising platforms
Airbnb allows you to change the settings on your listing to allow for long term stays in addition to short term stays. This includes a new pricing strategy and discounts. I always put at least a 20% discount on listings I’m trying to attract a long term stay guest too and it usually works. You’ll also want to highlight in your listing description that you allow long term stays.
Furnished Finder is specifically a website for traveling professionals. You pay a yearly flat fee by listing to list your property for rent and then can reach out to travelers coming to your area or they can reach out to you.
Facebook marketplace and groups specifically for traveling professionals is a great place to add your listing. Same with any long term rental advertising website. Make sure you mark that you’re trying to attract a guest that is staying short term and that the unit is fully furnished.
3. Mid Term Rental Property Management
If you use a property manager for your Airbnb business but want to pivot to doing mid term rentals, the same team will manage your mid term rental versus pivoting to a long term property manager. You could call around to see if any other property managers offer better rates for mid term rentals but it’s really hard to find specific mid term rental property managers, unless you’re in a huge metropolitan area.
Negotiate with your property manager on a better rate. Short term rental management fees can be as high as 30% but with less turnover and management activity, I’d personally try to talk them down to 15%.
Personally, I self manage all my units, short and medium term. There are so many softwares and systems that can be leveraged for ease of management.
4. Create an Attractive Listing
Just because you’re pivoting into longer term stays doesn’t mean the quality of your design can go down. You need to still prioritize good design with quality furnishings. Make sure to pick a theme and follow it throughout the listing.
5. Experience Mindset
Your guests still want to experience something better than where they live. They want a hotel vibe with home like touches. Anything you can add as a host to make it a better experience than other mid term rental listings will be a bonus.
One I see a lot of travelers requesting is a pool or spa. If your listing has that or has access to one, that would be a big bonus from other listings on the classic sites like Furnished Finders.
6. Network with Local Businesses
Networking with local businesses that hire the travelers is a great step towards getting consistent business. If you have a large portfolio you can offer them, this is even better because you can become their go-to rental company for any traveler they are placing in your market.
Large and small businesses alike higher various forms of labor for any number of projects. Hospitals will hire traveling doctors or nurses. Developers will hire specialists to come in a do specific work for a development project. Nationally known construction companies will bid and win business for building malls, hospitals, developments, industrial complexes. Always keep your eyes open to what’s coming into the community.
7. Always Understand Your Competition
Just like Airbnb, doing the enemy method with your mid term rental listings will inform you where you need to be in order to be considered the best listing in an area. Better design, photos, amenities usually do the trick.
The funny thing is that most Airbnb experts have been talking about this for years and there’s still so many markets where it’s easy to beat the competition on the basics. Don’t be like them, do it right from the very beginning!
What other mid term rental tips do you have? I’d love to know in the comments below!
This post was all about mid term rentals.
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclaimer for more info.
