The market for furnished rentals is growing. Digital nomads, work relocations, insurance claims, traveling professionals...are all reasons why guests are searching for a longer term furnished stay. The tricky part is they just need a place to stay between 1 and 3 months on average.
Airbnb has grown most significantly due to the short term rental market. But a lot of people are wondering, does Airbnb do long term rentals? Most Airbnb's are set up to host shorter term guests. This means things you might need longer term won't be available to you. Or the place just won't be "comfortable" enough for that long of a stay.
For example, does it have laundry access or is it attached? Is there a full kitchen? Is is fully equipped? What kind of appliances are provided?
Let's talk about some evolving definitions first. By long term, we mean 1 year or more. Anything between 1-3 months is considered mid-term. And any stay less than one month is considered short term.
Furnished Finder has been one of the top go-to sites for travel nurses and medical professionals. But there are a lot of other platforms out there that offer mid-term furnished rentals as well.
Since we started hosting in 2019, the amount of listings out there has multiplied exponentially. Because the furnished rental market is expanding, there are plenty of Airbnb hosts that do allow longer term stays. In fact, there are some that prefer it like Evari Properties. We specialize in midterm stays. It is less turn-over of guests, yet still allows intervals to keep the property in great condition.
More than that, there are a lot more platforms out there for hosts to list on. In fact, we just received a sketchy cold call today from a new listing platform that still has some vetting to do until we would consider listing on it. (There are A LOT of scams out there but that is another article for another day.)
The top platforms we use for our mid term rentals are:
Airbnb
Furnished Finder (not just for travel nurses)
VRBO (but watch out for the scams and vet every guest that contacts you!)
Zillow (this one is just more recent)
There are a few more we use. But to learn about those you might want to sign up for a hosting masterclass like through the Beyond Corporate Housing Network. It is a worthwhile place to glean valuable knowledge from experienced professionals in the industry. Nick is one of the head coaches - so I know that those in the class are receiving great content!
But can you rent a long term rental on airbnb for a year?
Airbnb definitely does midterm rentals. But I wouldn't go to it first for a long term rental (1yr or more). First, if you want to do a long term rental, you will want to skip all the added fees of the shorter term rental platforms and do a direct booking. You might even want to meet the property owner or agent and see the place for yourself before committing for an entire year. So Zillow is likely the better place to start first for a long term rental.
If you like the perks of all the utilities being included in the cost, you can negotiate that into the rental contract. We as homeowners do that all the time. Though, I will say the longest tenant/guest we have had in the past 5 years has been for 6 months. But we like it that way. Guests tend to get a bit too settled sometimes so cleaning up the property even after a 6 month stay can be a task in itself depending on your tenants.
We have considerable amount of experience with nearly all of the platforms out there for furnished rentals. For a long term stay, think through want you want out of that contract. Airbnb could be a good fit, or another route. It is up to you. But there are definitely long term options out there for you.
