Why Midterm Rentals Are the Sweet Spot Right Now

Medium-Term Rentals
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Why Midterm Rentals Are the Sweet Spot Right Now

Nick Copland
Real Estate Coach · United States · Member since 2025 · 78 posts · 50 votes

I’ve noticed more investors quietly moving into midterm rentals (30–90 days) lately.

Why? STRs are more regulated, LTRs are predictable but slow, and MTRs hit the sweet spot:

  • -Steady cash flow without daily turnover
  • -Professional tenants (corporates, nurses, relocations)
  • -Flexibility for scaling

That said, it only works if you:

  1. -Know your tenant type
  2. -Furnish for function, not style
  3. -Price monthly, not nightly

For those running MTRs: are you seeing the same benefits? What’s been your biggest challenge?

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Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
9mo
Quote from @Jaron Walling:

@Nick Copland We might be in a similar situation in the spring. 

What is a realistic furnishing budget for a 1100 sqft, 2-bed, 1-bath, single family, MTR? As a LTR we could get get $1400 per month. As MTR would be $1800-2000 per month. I'm trying to justify the jump into a new strategy for us. It's next to a park and 10mins from downtown.

Some investors do both STR and MTR strategies at the same time, but that seems like a lot of work. Thoughts?


that would be pretty tight by the time you furnish it.. I tried STR in one of my INdy props was a loser.  Fountain square. 
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  • Jaron WallingPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2018 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    9mo

    @Nick Copland We might be in a similar situation in the spring. 

    What is a realistic furnishing budget for a 1100 sqft, 2-bed, 1-bath, single family, MTR? As a LTR we could get get $1400 per month. As MTR would be $1800-2000 per month. I'm trying to justify the jump into a new strategy for us. It's next to a park and 10mins from downtown.

    Some investors do both STR and MTR strategies at the same time, but that seems like a lot of work. Thoughts?

    1Reply
    • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
      Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
      9mo
      Quote from @Jaron Walling:

      @Nick Copland We might be in a similar situation in the spring. 

      What is a realistic furnishing budget for a 1100 sqft, 2-bed, 1-bath, single family, MTR? As a LTR we could get get $1400 per month. As MTR would be $1800-2000 per month. I'm trying to justify the jump into a new strategy for us. It's next to a park and 10mins from downtown.

      Some investors do both STR and MTR strategies at the same time, but that seems like a lot of work. Thoughts?


      that would be pretty tight by the time you furnish it.. I tried STR in one of my INdy props was a loser.  Fountain square. 
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  • Kenneth GarrettPro Member
    Investor · Florida Panhandle/Illinois · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    9mo

    @Jaron Walling

    The Cost to furnish a unit is somewhere between $10-$12 a square foot. Of course this can vary depending on your area.

    I use the hybrid method of MTR and STR.

    If LTR rents are $1400 and MTR is $1800-$2000 that is not much of a better spread. MTR rents should be 1.5-2.0 of LTR. You should be at $2100-$2800. The time of year can make a difference.

    I think if you look at competition there are definitely wide spread comps. I tend to stick to higher rents even if it’s vacant 30-60 days at a time. I use furnished Finder to use comps as well as Airbnb.

    At the end of the day I can match 6 months of MTR to LTR for a year. Even with vacancy I’m definitely ahead of the game.

    1Reply
  • Don KonipolBusiness Member
    Investor · The Woodlands TX / Avon, CT · Member since 2009 · 6k+ posts · 10k+ votes
    9mo
    Quote from @Nick Copland:

    I’ve noticed more investors quietly moving into midterm rentals (30–90 days) lately.

    Why? STRs are more regulated, LTRs are predictable but slow, and MTRs hit the sweet spot:

    • -Steady cash flow without daily turnover
    • -Professional tenants (corporates, nurses, relocations)
    • -Flexibility for scaling

    That said, it only works if you:

    1. -Know your tenant type
    2. -Furnish for function, not style
    3. -Price monthly, not nightly

    For those running MTRs: are you seeing the same benefits? What’s been your biggest challenge?

    The market for MTR, being a tiny fraction of that for LTR, or STR, really consists of 2 separate markets.  One is the vacationer staying 1,2,or 3 months.  The other is the temporary employee, family between houses, insurance company cases, or health travelers.  The former is closer to STR, the latter closer to furnished LTR.

    As such, the market is VERY localized and specific.  Therefore, rules of thumb, averages, short cut statistics, etc. can be very misleading and result in significant lost profits or significant loses.  

    My experience has been that many MTR tenants become FURNISHED LTR tenants.  This is somewhat biased as the two units I operated as STR were high end, high rise condos furnished with high end furnishings. In one case the tenant signing a 6 month lease ended up staying 4 1/2 years, the tenant signing a 90 day lease stayed 6 months, and the next tenant signed a standard LTR (12 months) and stayed 3 years.  In both cases I received rent equal to 35% - 40% higher than I would have LTR unfurnished.  
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    • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
      Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
      9mo
      Quote from @Don Konipol:
      Quote from @Nick Copland:

      I’ve noticed more investors quietly moving into midterm rentals (30–90 days) lately.

      Why? STRs are more regulated, LTRs are predictable but slow, and MTRs hit the sweet spot:

      • -Steady cash flow without daily turnover
      • -Professional tenants (corporates, nurses, relocations)
      • -Flexibility for scaling

      That said, it only works if you:

      1. -Know your tenant type
      2. -Furnish for function, not style
      3. -Price monthly, not nightly

      For those running MTRs: are you seeing the same benefits? What’s been your biggest challenge?

      The market for MTR, being a tiny fraction of that for LTR, or STR, really consists of 2 separate markets.  One is the vacationer staying 1,2,or 3 months.  The other is the temporary employee, family between houses, insurance company cases, or health travelers.  The former is closer to STR, the latter closer to furnished LTR.

      As such, the market is VERY localized and specific.  Therefore, rules of thumb, averages, short cut statistics, etc. can be very misleading and result in significant lost profits or significant loses.  

      My experience has been that many MTR tenants become FURNISHED LTR tenants.  This is somewhat biased as the two units I operated as STR were high end, high rise condos furnished with high end furnishings. In one case the tenant signing a 6 month lease ended up staying 4 1/2 years, the tenant signing a 90 day lease stayed 6 months, and the next tenant signed a standard LTR (12 months) and stayed 3 years.  In both cases I received rent equal to 35% - 40% higher than I would have LTR unfurnished.  

      WE experinced the same thing with one of our Vegas townhouses.. we ran it mid term for about 5 years and I think we had 4 tenants with two staying less than 6 months..  Base rent for our unit unfirnished was 2200.. furnished and utls provided 4500.00 from insurance company.
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  • Jaron WallingPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2018 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    9mo

    @Jay Hinrichs Yeah we have no experience with STR or MTR other than vacationing in them! Indy has a blossoming health care industry and a $5B hospital going up in downtown, but it's two years from being finished.

    At $8 per square foot (hunting deals) I'm looking at $8500 to furnish the unit. I'd probably replace a fence and add a parking spot in the backyard which would be another $5k. That's about $14k invested to gain $700 per month in additional CF over a LTR. It doesn't seem worth it given the responses above. 

    1Reply
    • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
      Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
      9mo
      Quote from @Jaron Walling:

      @Jay Hinrichs Yeah we have no experience with STR or MTR other than vacationing in them! Indy has a blossoming health care industry and a $5B hospital going up in downtown, but it's two years from being finished.

      At $8 per square foot (hunting deals) I'm looking at $8500 to furnish the unit. I'd probably replace a fence and add a parking spot in the backyard which would be another $5k. That's about $14k invested to gain $700 per month in additional CF over a LTR. It doesn't seem worth it given the responses above. 


      Jaron, keep in mind I had to hire PM services so when you add that in for sure not worth it. and I might have mentioned if you change course unless you can use the furniture you basically haul it to the dump :)
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  • Steven Destine
    Investor · Member since 2025 · 15 posts · 7 votes
    9mo

    I just converted my Denver loft to MTR and you're spot on about the reduced operational burden compared to STR. No more cleaning every 3 days, less guest communication at 11pm, way less platform dependency. The cash flow is lower than peak STR months but way more predictable, which matters when you're trying to scale or just not burn out.

    The challenge I'm seeing is tenant sourcing. Corporate housing and travel nurses sound great in theory, but actually filling consistent 30-90 day slots without gaps takes more work than people think. Furnished Finder helps but it's not magic - and I've experienced a TON of fake/spam respondents there. I'm curious how you're handling the gap periods between tenants since that's where MTR profitability can fall apart quickly.

    Also finding that furnishing for function is harder than it sounds. What looks "professional" to a corporate relocator vs a travel nurse vs a digital nomad is pretty different, and you can't be everything to everyone without the place feeling generic. How are you deciding who your primary tenant type is before you furnish?

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