What MTR means
You’ll also see it written as midterm rental or, mostly outside the US, medium-term rental. In rental-investing conversations it’s the middle of three strategies: STR (short-term rental), MTR (mid-term rental) and LTR (long-term rental). Outside real estate, MTR means other things entirely — Hong Kong’s railway, for one — so on its own the abbreviation is ambiguous; in a rental context it always means mid-term.
One home, three ways
The same furnished three-bedroom can be run as any of the three:
| Topic | Nightly (short-term) | Monthly (mid-term) | Yearly (long-term) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stay | A family’s four-night weekend | A travel nurse’s 13-week assignment | A household’s 12-month lease |
| Priced | Per night | Per month, furnished | Per month, usually unfurnished |
| Agreement | Booking terms | A lease or rental agreement | A lease |
| Turnovers a year | Dozens | A handful | One, or none |
Who rents an MTR
People whose work or life puts them somewhere for a few months: travel healthcare workers, construction crews and project managers, relocating employees and families between homes, and households displaced by a fire or flood whose insurer is paying for housing. The full picture — how long, who rents, pricing and leases — is in our guide to mid-term rentals.
Related terms
- STR (short-term rental) — nightly stays, usually 1–29 nights. See mid-term vs short-term rentals.
- LTR (long-term rental) — a lease of 12 months or more, usually unfurnished.
- Corporate housing — an MTR for someone traveling or relocating for work. See corporate housing software.
- Travel-nurse housing — an MTR sized to a 13-week assignment. See renting to travel nurses.
- ALE housing — an MTR paid for by a homeowner’s insurance while their home is repaired. See insurance housing.
Running MTRs next to nightly stays or yearly leases? That’s what Nexxus mid-term rental software is built for — or open the live demo set up for mid-term, no sign-up.
MTR FAQ
What does MTR stand for in real estate?
Mid-term rental. Investors and property managers use MTR for furnished homes rented by the month — usually 30 nights to under a year — next to STR (short-term rental) and LTR (long-term rental).
What is the difference between STR, MTR and LTR?
Stay length and how the stay is run. An STR is booked by the night (1–29 nights) and priced per night. An MTR is furnished, rented for one to twelve months under a lease, and paid monthly. An LTR is a 12-month-or-longer lease, usually unfurnished.
How long is an MTR?
Typically one to twelve months. Most mid-term stays run two to six months — the length of a travel-nurse assignment, a construction project, a relocation or an insurance repair.
Is an MTR the same as corporate housing?
Corporate housing is one kind of MTR: a furnished mid-term rental for someone traveling or relocating for work, often arranged or paid for by their employer. Travel-nurse housing and insurance (displacement) housing are other kinds.
What does MTR mean on Airbnb?
Hosts use MTR for stays of about a month or longer. Airbnb itself calls them monthly or long-term stays and lets hosts set a monthly discount; many hosts list a home for mid-term stays there alongside other mid-term sites.