Any hosts have success with Furnished Finder for LTR?

[Brian_R170]

I know this is somewhat off-topic, but there are some hosts that mix STR with LTR for off-season rentals and such. I did a forum search and saw Furnished Finder mentioned a lot, but not many success stories.

My wife decided to try renting to travel nurses (our LTR and former STR rental fall under her business) and I agreed that it seemed like a good idea, so she signed up with TravelNurseHousing.com which is a sister site to Furnished Finder.

The listing has been live for almost 2 weeks and, so far, it’s been a complete waste of time.

There’s no way to make your listing available to only travel nurses. Anybody can see it on Furnished Finder and send you an inquiry. They don’t proxy any communications, so potential tenants get your e-mail address and mobile phone number. We get one or two “Traveler Housing Requests” from Furnished Finder every day, and they all fall into two categories:

1. People that want something other than what is specified on the listing. E.g., they want to bring their dog when the listing states no pets, or they want to rent for 1 month when the listing states a minimum of 3 months, or they want to have 6 people when the listing states the max is 4, etc.

2. We communicate a few messages back and forth and everything looks like it will work out, so we send them a request to do a tenant screening with KeyCheck (Furnish Finder’s own tenant screening service), and they either withdraw their request or just never respond again.

Not one inquiry from a travel nurse, either.

[Lynick4442]

I tried a couple of years ago before the pandemic hoping for a winter bookings. I got a couple of nibbles but no booked.

[Annet3176]

@JJD ‘s posting is rich with good info.

Also as you consider travel nurse contracts, keep in mind:
-Contracts are usually confirmed only a couple weeks before the start date so rate to get a booking more than a couple weeks in advance of start

-a flexible cancellation policy is needed. A contract can be cancelled by the hospital as late as the morning of the start. Not fair to nurse who’s already invested in travel & housing. Not fair to the host. But can happen. There is NO reimbursement to the Nurse for these expenses.

-There is a Facebook group FurnishedFinder you may wish to join.

-If you can possibly accept pets, you will get more bookings. See the FB group postings for examples.

[NordlingHouse]

If your places are near hospitals, just call their HR department. Most HR depts keep a list of possible rentals for their travelers, and are happy to hear from landlords willing to do 90 day leases.

[Brian_R170]

@JJD

Yes, there is.

I guess I meant “visible only to travel nurses”

@JJD

How close are you to hospitals? Do you put in your FF ad

2 miles to a major hospital, and several smaller hospitals/clinics (Cigna, Dignity, Banner) are closer. However, neither public transportation nor walking are practical here.

@JJD

Or your house might be too big for one person. How many bedrooms is it?

Yes, this is a problem. It’s a 4-bedroom with 1 of those bedroom configured as an office. When my wife first signed up and contacted Furnished Finder, they sent us a bunch of info on nurses currently looking for housing in our area, and there were a few that were traveling with a spouse or a spouse and child, and in one case, a nurse with 2 children and no spouse.

@JJD

It could be your pricing too.

We priced it slightly lower than 3-bedroom FF listings in the area, but the size+pricing may very well be why we’re attracting the requests we’re getting.

I think I really just need to work on “selling it” to nurses, and will take the advice to heart. We could add more blackout curtains since they’re currently only in 2 out of 4 of the bedrooms, but otherwise, it has everything including a very well-stocked kitchen and laundry room.

[RebeccaF]

We used Furnished Finder for the winter of 2019-2020. We found a very nice travel nurse within two days of signing up. She stayed with us for just under three months, although she paid for three full months. She left about two days after we started hearing things about Covid in our state.

We used a rental agreement and got her references. She was a great guest. Very courteous. Shared the kitchen with us very well. At first, she cooked a lot of stuff with mushrooms (to which I’m allergic). When I told her about my allergy, she responded kindly and stopped.

We would host another nurse, perhaps through Furnished Finder, if it ever becomes safe to do that. It was a good solution for what would otherwise have been a very quiet season.

I don’t know what’s changed with FF since then, but it worked well for us.

[casailinglady]

@Brian_R170

signed up with TravelNurseHousing.com which is a sister site to Furnished Finder.

It’s the same company, just a different URL.

@Brian_R170

The listing has been live for almost 2 weeks and, so far, it’s been a complete waste of time.

I know people who swear it’s fabulous, but that hasn’t been my experience.

@Brian_R170

and they all fall into two categories:

My experience exactly.

@NordlingHouse

Most HR depts keep a list of possible rentals for their travelers, and are happy to hear from landlords willing to do 90 day leases.

Not here. I called the 9 hospitals in the area and they’re still using bulletin boards and making it the nurses’ problem.

@RebeccaF

We used a rental agreement and got her references.

This.

[muddy]

@casailinglady

they’re still using bulletin boards and making it the nurses’ problem.

Know any nurses who work there who can put up a notice on the board?

[casailinglady]

@muddy

Know any nurses who work there who can put up a notice on the board?

I don’t have the time/bandwidth to bother with this. FF sells themselves at $99/yr to landlords as the be-all and end-all of travel nurse LTRs.

I’ll stick with Air.

[Brian_R170]

@casailinglady

I’ll stick with Air.

I would too if Airbnb policies and pricing were more favorable for LTR.

[Brian_R170]

@JJD

@Brian_R170 , I’d be happy to help if you’d like any.

Thank you! Sent you a private message.

[Christine_Shirtcliff]

I’m watching this closely because I am considering listing with FF. Just took our first travel nurse through Airbnb. We were a little hesitant because it was a home share. So easy! Rarely here and sleeping when she is. We hope that she extends.

[Terryathome]

Homeshare host. We have had several traveling medical professionals throughout Covid who found us of FF. It has worked out very well. We have them sign a lease, check references, and have their mail go to a Post Office box. One ended up staying 11 months, one 3, and the current one signed up for 3 but we are talking about extending another 3.

I am still keeping my Airbnb listing but have it paused. We want to go back to using it as I really enjoy having a variety of short-term guests so this may be our last FF person. Unfortunately our area is still in the top covid regions in the country (as of a couple of weeks ago) so I am unwilling to go back to 2019 levels of hosting multiple people every week.

I’ve also noticed a slowing of viewings on FF in the last month or so. Maybe less need for travelers or travelers finding units have become too overpriced. Prices have gone way up as more listings have appeared.

Overall, I view FF as less risky than Craigslist because it tends to attract traveling professionals but still do my part in screening before accepting a tenant. I don’t expect anything from the platform but appreciate the link to Keycheck.

For the minimal fee they charge, I think it is a good option to keep available.

[Annet3176]

Food for thought—hospitals have an approved list of Travel Nurse Agencies. Nurse recruiting at the hospital can tell you those agencies. You send them the notice of available housing. Since housing comes & goes, only send info when your rental is available or will be soon.

[casailinglady]

@Brian_R170

policies and pricing were more favorable for LTR.

You misunderstand me - I would never do LTR through Air except for corporate and with a lease.

I meant that FF has been a bust for me and I’ll stick to my steady (as of now) flow of guests through ABB.

[casailinglady]

@Annet3176

Nurse recruiting at the hospital can tell you those agencies.

I’ll see if I can do that. Sounds promising.

[NordlingHouse]

@casailinglady

Not here. I called the 9 hospitals in the area and they’re still using bulletin boards and making it the nurses’ problem.

They probably aren’t as desperate as a remote Alaskan community of 33,000.

[Sarah027]

I’ve been renting by the month for a while (on actual long term before that), first on zillow, then air, VRBO and now FF. I like FF best, but it is more like LTR than STR, which to me mean you have to do all the vetting yourself. They’re lots of inquiries that don’t pan out, people who seems interested and then ghost, people who want you to hold it. When I get an inquiry; I send basic info, answer any questions, provide info on the application process and lease, and tell them applications are handled in the order they’re received.

I find if I can open dates 3-6 months in advance I can usually book then, a month before there’s a crazy level of inquiries. I’ve had guest stays from 1 month to 18 months: travel nurses, people who are relocating to the area or getting their home remodeled, one corporate tenant renting for employees, international travelers, and a lot of grandparents looking for a one month stay when their new grandbaby is the born.

I far prefer to manage the rentals myself rather then have Air or VRBO do it because I have a contract, collect a deposit, don’t need to deal with a third party in case of damages. And it’s a lot less turnover and vacancies.

However, long term tenants have renters rights, so you need to be up to speed on that. Like, you can’t kick them out without a valid reason and you have to go through an eviction process. You also can’t discriminate. Best to have established criteria up front (income level, credit score, criminal background criteria that would exclude someone, etc). It’s not like hosting.

One thing I learned pretty quick is to book sequentially, don’t leave gaps of 30 days or more unless you can fill it with STR. ( there’s a 30 day minimum in my HOA) And most people who are looking for a month stay are looking for a calendar month, especially in the summer.

With Furnished finder you get notified of both matches and direct inquiries by default. The matches are not well matched, IMO, though my upcoming tenant was a match that I mistakenly took for an inquiry. I think you can turn the matches off? You can definitely turned the text notifications off. There are not a whole lot of inquiries, but I’m always booked, so it probably depends on your area/ competition.

[Annet3176]

@Sarah027

I far prefer to manage the rentals myself

I understand this. I’m curious do you use keycheck for background checks & lease formats?

[Sarah027]

I use a lease from a local group, the Rental Housing Association. I used keycheck a couple times, but I’m wondering if they changed the format because last time the background check was odd. Let me see if I can attach a screen shot.

I’m assuming that meant they didn’t flag anything, but I prefer getting details. Or maybe it didn’t find anything because the tenants have been living internationally for decades. Maybe it’s a false identity. But it would have been nice if it had told me what “0” means. It did have a full credit report.

I only do bookings a couple times a year so I always have to figure out background checks again. I liked checkr but then I couldn’t figure out how to get it to run a report again after the first time when I’d created the account.

There’s lots of platforms but my understanding is they all use the same backend databases so the difference is in how they present the info. One thing you do have to watch for is if they’re using state vs. national criminal records databases.