The short answer
A mid-term rental — also written midterm, or a medium-term rental in some markets — is a furnished home rented for one to twelve months, usually 30 nights or more, to people whose work or life puts them somewhere for a while. It’s part booking and part tenancy, which is why it needs a little of both playbooks. New to the idea? Start with what a mid-term rental is, then come back.
Tyler Sorenson, Nexxus’s founder, took this path in 2019, moving from nightly cabin rentals to furnished mid-term homes:
We moved into mid-term for the tenant base and the lower turnover — and accepted a little less cash flow for it. For us it was the right trade.
1. Check demand
Mid-term tenants come from somewhere specific: hospitals that hire travel nurses, employers and job sites with multi-month projects, relocations, and insurance claims that displace families. Look at what’s within a reasonable drive of the home, then at the furnished homes already renting by the month nearby — on Furnished Finder, Airbnb with 28+ night dates and Zillow’s furnished listings. Who each group is, and what they need, is in renting to travel nurses, corporate housing and insurance (ALE) housing.
2. Check the rules
- Your HOA and lease. Covenants can set minimum lease terms or ban furnished rentals; if you rent the home yourself, re-renting it needs the owner’s written consent — see rental arbitrage.
- Your city and county. Many short-term rental rules treat stays of 30 nights or more differently; some cities require registration anyway.
- Tenancy law. A stay of about 30 days or more can make a guest a tenant — see the 30-day rule.
- Lodging tax. Many states stop taxing lodging at 30 days; some draw the line at 90 days or six months — see transient occupancy tax.
General information, not legal or tax advice — check your state and city with an attorney and a CPA.
3. Set up the home
Furnish it for someone who lives and works there, not for a weekend: a real desk and chair, fast Wi-Fi, a full kitchen, laundry, parking, blackout curtains for shift workers, and utilities in your name. Room by room, with a move-in inventory to sign at check-in, it’s in the free furnishing and move-in checklist. Spread what the furniture costs over the years it will last when you run the numbers.
4. Insure it as a furnished rental
Tell your insurer the home is furnished and rented for one to twelve months at a time; a standard homeowner’s or long-term landlord policy may not fit. Ask how it covers the furnishings, liability and the gaps between tenants.
5. Price it
Price against comparable furnished homes rented by the month, use the federal per diem lodging rate as a ceiling, and put utilities and Wi-Fi in one monthly price. The steps are in how to price a mid-term rental; compare the home as a nightly, monthly and yearly rental in the mid-term rental calculator, and check a traveler’s budget with the travel nurse stipend calculator.
6. Get a lease written for 1–12 month stays
Use a written lease for every stay, drafted or reviewed by a landlord-tenant attorney in your state: the term, monthly rent and how partial months are prorated, the deposit, utilities, the furniture inventory, extensions, early termination and who may live there. Clause by clause, in mid-term lease agreements; companies sometimes sign as the tenant — see corporate lease.
7. Screen every applicant
Have every adult apply, verify the reason for the stay (the assignment, the employer, the claim), confirm the rent can be paid and run the same checks for everyone within fair-housing and credit-reporting rules. What to ask and the rules to follow are in applications and screening.
8. List it where mid-term tenants look
Mid-term tenants come through several doors: Airbnb with monthly stays turned on, your own website, Zillow and the long-term sites, Furnished Finder, and insurance and corporate placement companies. What each costs is in where to list mid-term rentals; the details are in Airbnb monthly stays, Furnished Finder for landlords and direct booking.
9. Set up how you’re paid
Decide what’s due when — for example, the deposit and one-time fees soon after signing, the first month prorated at move-in, then rent on the 1st — and take it through a traceable payment method before keys change hands. Work out partial months with the prorated rent calculator. When a company pays, it may want an invoice: the corporate housing invoice template has a worked example.
10. Run it in one place
The first mid-term stay is where the spreadsheets start: a lease here, a deposit there, an Airbnb calendar that doesn’t know about the lease you just signed. Set up one system before the first booking. In Nexxus, every stay — nightly, monthly or yearly — sits on one calendar, with Airbnb connected through Channex, an Airbnb Preferred+ Software Partner. Your own booking site takes inquiries and applications, leases are e-signed, rent for the whole stay is scheduled with partial months prorated by the day, and tenants pay in a branded resident portal. It works the same for one home you self-manage as for a portfolio you run for owners.
See mid-term rental software, or open the live demo set up for mid-term — no sign-up. What Nexxus costs is on Nexxus plans and pricing.
Converting an Airbnb or a long-term rental
- From an Airbnb. You have the furniture and the listing; add a lease for 30+ night stays, a monthly discount, the listing sites mid-term tenants use, deposits and screening, and a home that works for someone who lives there. The checklist is in switching from Airbnb to mid-term.
- From a long-term rental. You have the lease habits; add furniture, utilities in your name, insurance for a furnished rental and new listing channels — after the current lease ends lawfully. The checklist is in converting a long-term rental.
How to start a mid-term rental: FAQ
How do I start a mid-term rental business?
Check that there’s furnished monthly demand near the home (hospitals, employers, job sites, insurance claims), check your HOA, city and state rules for 30+ night stays, furnish it for someone who lives and works there, insure it as a furnished rental, price it against furnished comps, get a lease written for 1–12 month stays, screen applicants, list it where mid-term tenants look, set up how you’re paid, and run the calendar, leases and rent in one system.
How much does it cost to start a mid-term rental?
It depends on the home and what it already has. Budget for furniture, a stocked kitchen, linens and a workspace; utilities and internet in your name; insurance for a furnished rental; listing fees; and a lease reviewed by an attorney — plus a cushion for the weeks between tenants. The mid-term rental calculator shows what those costs do to the monthly result.
Should I use a month-to-month agreement for a mid-term rental?
Most mid-term stays use a fixed-term lease that matches the stay — the assignment, the project or the repair — with clear extension and early-termination terms. A month-to-month tenancy comes with its own notice rules under state law. Have a landlord-tenant attorney help you choose; this is general information, not legal advice.
Can I run a mid-term rental in an HOA with a minimum lease term?
Only within what the HOA allows. If the covenants require, say, a six-month minimum, you can still take stays that meet it — some travel nurses, project crews and insurance placements stay that long — but read the rules first and put the minimum in your listings and lease.
Do I need an LLC to start a mid-term rental business?
It isn’t required to rent a home, but an LLC is a common choice for liability and bookkeeping reasons. It’s a legal and tax decision — ask an attorney and a CPA what fits your situation.
Is a mid-term rental a passive investment for taxes?
Under the federal passive-activity rules, a home whose average stay is longer than 30 days is a rental activity — the same as a long-term rental. The exceptions short-term hosts talk about apply only when the average stay is 7 days or less, or 30 days or less with significant personal services. Ask your CPA how it applies to you.
Sources
- IRS: Publication 925 and the Form 8582 instructions (rental-activity exceptions: average customer use of 7 days or less, or 30 days or less with significant personal services)
- Airbnb: things to consider before hosting monthly stays (tenancy after 30 consecutive days in some states) and software partners (Channex, Preferred+)