r/FurnishedFinder

Hi,

I used to live in the Seattle area, super close to a major hospital. I have now moved out of state, but plan to keep the house for a few years until I decide where to live permanently.

The house is 4 bed/3bath with bonus rooms and a total of 3200 sqft. I am trying to avoid a long term renter because I would like to visit for 2-3 months out of the year to see family and other obligations. I also want the flexibility to sell when I am ready, if needed.

I am not sure if large houses are desirable to mid-term tenants, who are mainly solo or couples. I don't want to run a dorm style setting by renting out each room either.

For those who successfully rent out large houses to mid-term tenants, any tips or ideas?

https://preview.redd.it/e88rzzq4b6kh1.png?width=840&format=png&auto=webp&s=f95118e12bbf28113324a99c70a9b22ffa758154

Read the bottom "How fast you respond to tenants is about to matter more. . . .slow response times will mean less visibility in search . . ."

So even when 90% of my messages are from tenants who ask for already blocked out dates, want to negotiate rent, ask about things that are clearly stated in the description (i.e. occupancy limits) -- it is now my responsibility to quickly answer them or be penalized in listings.

This will just drive up the # of random messages, requests, etc. that every landlord will now have to deal with. Why bother reading, when you can just message for answers?

It's now the landlord's responsibility to compensate for the tenant's lack of reading.

I listed my home on FF in March or April, and as a first-timer, I lowered my goal rent by about $300 to attract more interest since I didn't have any reviews yet. I was hoping to start with a shorter lease of 2-3 months to get my feet wet, but I received a 6-month inquiry, and I got good vibes from them, so I went with it. They moved in in June and are staying until December. So far, they have been ideal tenants. They've actually fixed stuff up in the house, pay rent early, and have zero complaints. They requested to extend their stay on a month-to-month basis, for up to another 3-6 months. I told them I'm open to the extension but would get back to them with terms. My taxes will increase in 2027, and I'd like to increase their rent, but I don't want to scare them away. Does anyone have experience with this? How has it worked out for you? What's a reasonable jump in a situation like this?

I have been on FF for a year now. My security deposit has always been around what the monthly rate is or about 2/3 of that( avg month about 3k). Lately in my area other listings are dropping the deposit to $500. Can anyone explain the benefit of such a low deposit? If there is damage how does $500 help? Do you then have to go to small claims? Anyone else noticing this trend?

I’m trying to figure out what other mid-term rental landlords do, especially when you’re not local for every turnover.

I’ve tried to set my furnished apartments up to be as renter-friendly as possible from a cleanliness perspective. I use glass covers on furniture tops, waterproof mattress covers, a glass dining table, minimal kitchen items, and washable covers on the couch and upholstered chairs. My goal was to make turnovers as simple as possible and minimize "stuff" that is difficult to clean between tenants. I personally have very high cleanliness standards, so I want to provide fresh, clean spaces.

My cleaning person prefers charging a flat turnover fee instead of hourly, but I’ve had a huge range in how tenants leave the property. Some leave it basically clean, while others have been very dirty.... food and trash scattered throughout the unit, ex. yogurt cups in closets, food and stains ground into rugs, hair absolutely everywhere, contact lenses crusted onto all of the furniture and floors, etc.

When I am in town, I do a first-pass cleaning myself before my cleaner came so she can focus on making everything look good for the next tenant. Now I’m out of state more frequently and having her handle turnovers on her own.

I added an addendum to my lease spelling out the cleaning expectations. It says the standard cleaning fee only covers routine turnover cleaning and that tenants are responsible for leaving surfaces in "wipe-down condition," meaning no sticky residue, food buildup, trash, excessive hair, etc. It also says that if additional cleaning labor is required to restore the unit to rentable condition, the tenant can be charged for that extra time.

My question is how people actually handle this in practice. If your cleaner charges a flat turnover fee, how do you document and calculate the additional cost when someone leaves the place dirty? Do you have the cleaner estimate the extra time, take before-and-after photos, and then charge an hourly amount for anything beyond the normal turnover?

I’ve also gone back and forth on providing sheets. I don’t like the idea of washing sheets between tenants because it doesn’t seem hygienic to me. When I stay in mid-term rentals, I always bring my own and am annoyed if there are used sheets/towels/pillows that smell despite being washed. A few times I’ve bought $15 Amazon Basics sheets so the incoming tenant has something brand new, but that also feels wasteful. I have replaced mattress covers in between tenants but may switch to washing those if they are not stained.

I’m also worried about getting a bad review if I deduct anything from a security deposit, especially since I’m not always able to be there for a walk-through at move-out. FF doesn't encourage many reviews so a bad one would be detrimental, especially since a lot of travelling tenants are renting site unseen.

TLDR: Any suggestions on how to account for cleaning, given every tenant has very different standards?

New to FF- do you entertain direct requests from accounts without verified phone and email? I feel like it's fine as long as I screen them elsewhere. But maybe it's a red flag? Like how hard can it be to verify your email and phone, and I'm not even talking about the LinkedIn "verification"?

Do you guys charge for a guest that changes their start date? I know these contracts are last minute so it's hard to plan. But once a short-term lease is signed how do you as hosts handle someone needing to change the start date at the last minute?

Part of me says it's no big deal, but that's also time that we could have been renting out to someone else.

I'm so tired of reaching out to a landlord and getting told the place is already booked. Why not update the listing as soon as you get a tenant? Also, what's with landlord's not responding to inquiries now? I never had a problem before, but for my new assignment, I'm literally having to send messages outside the furnished finder platform just to get a response. So annoying!

Have a house, but frequently leave for a year plus at a time, and was interested in furnishedfinder.

But if people want to look before renting, and I’m halfway across the country, would I be able to just have a lockbox for them?

Good evening,

I just signed a 6 month lease to stay at a property. I moved in 2 nights ago. Yesterday I receive a text asking if I will be home at a certain time tomorrow(today) because the landlord wants to show the property to someone. He states that they want to sell the house and the new tenant will start after my lease move out date. But that he expects me to let people tour the property while I’m staying here. Whether I am home or not. This was never mentioned to me or in the leasing agreement we signed. I do not want this. What is allowed in Texas?

The landlord wrote the lease. It states that he can come check in on the property with ample time in advance. This we agreed upon. Nothing about showings, being available for showings, having other people tour the property, etc. the lease also states that it represents the entirety of the agreement and any modifications needs to be in writing.

Its day 2, Ive just moved all my stuff over, I just signed a brand new lease, and he’s already wanting people to come see the property. Its been respectful conversation. he has mentioned that we may need to end the lease in 1 month vs the 6 months if Im not cool with the showings. Im open to that but I do feel like thats still not fair as I did sign for 6 months.

Anyone else have this situation or insight on what is allowed and what isnt?

I'm renting for the first time and am nervous about sending money over to someone I've never met in person.

I have had a video call with the landlord and they walked me through the property. I've done as much online sleuthing as is possible and ownership records seem to line up with the person who is renting. I have a lease document as well.

I'm still nervous, however, that they want me to pay through Venmo/Zelle.

I thought KeyCheck was a good way to pay as it only charged the tenant a fee for the payments, but the landlord is telling me that KeyCheck will also end up charging her money...though I can only find online documentation stating the tenants get charged payment fees.

Are there any better ways to pay? Should I pass on this one?

Has anyone else had n increase in potential renters asking for you to reduce the security deposit? Our security deposit is around the monthly rent and is refundable. We have had an increase in these requests along with more request to lower the monthly rent.

Thinking about getting into furnished mid-term rentals (3-12 months) instead of a regular year-long lease. For anyone who’s actually done this — is it more work than a standard rental? What’s the part that surprised you the most once you were actually in it?

Hi friends, my fiance and I are looking at buying our first property in the Denver Metro area. We’re looking at a large home with a walk out basement apt : 2b 1bath with a kitchen, in unit laundry, and their own patio. We’re getting the home 50k under asking price but it’s still top of the budget. We’re terrified. Is it normal to be scared or do we take it as a bad omen 😂🫣 it’s 35 min from Denver 25 or so to Boulder and close to malls and hospitals.

Someone recently suggested I check out Furnished Finder as I’m relocating to an area and the long term Airbnb prices were 2-3x’s higher. I don’t even know what questions to ask, how to ensure I’m protected financially and not scammed, etc. any advice is welcome from both landlords and those that have stayed in units!

I’m looking at a 2-3 month stay, I have one indoor dog and two cats. Dog is 100% housebroken (can provide trainer reference) and cats are trained to not tear up furniture, they have scratch posts/boxes for that. I’ll be majority working from the home during the stay, other than a few periodic meetings that wouldn’t be more than a couple hours each, so they won’t be unsupervised for long periods of time.