10+ Top Mid-Term Rental Platforms & Operators [2022] : Wheelhouse Blog

10+ Top Mid-Term Rental Platforms & Operators [2022]

November 3, 2022 | Hailey Friedman

Today’s short-term property managers are seeing an uptick in longer stays. You’ll always have the weekenders, but the industry is seeing more and more one-month, three-month, or even six-month visits as of late.

These are considered mid-term and mid-length stays: tenants that stay at your property for longer than a month, and often for multiple months at a time. These stays offer financial and operational benefits for both property owners and travelers.

Where should you list your mid-length rental to find tenants? What are the best mid-term platforms out there?

Let’s start at the top.

What are mid-term or mid-length rentals?

Mid-length stays at rental properties are generally between 1-3 months or 30-90 days. Though some property managers would consider any stay less than a year a mid-length stay, they are often three months or less.

Mid-term rentals offer property managers stability and efficiency. One month stays and up mean fewer unit turnarounds, less guest management, less cleaning costs, and improved occupancy – even during off-peak seasons.

Managed by mid-length rental operators, these rental opportunities have become increasingly popular for remote workers, extended vacations, and individuals between homes.

Differences Between Mid-Term, Short-Term & Long-Term Rentals

What is the difference between short-term and mid-term rentals? And what about long-term rentals? The main (and most obvious difference) is the time period of the lease. Short-term is often considered anything less than a month; mid-term rentals fall between a month and a year; and long-term leases usually start at a year.

The next big difference is between the customers. Short-term rentals are aimed toward vacationers almost exclusively. They’re capturing travelers looking for a weekend getaway, a stopover night, or a week or two in a beautiful Airbnb.

Long-term renters are your standard renters: those that live in any area for an extended period of time but do not own a home. These might be people that are working far from their home on a multiyear contract, students that prefer a sublet or sublease agreement instead of going for mid-term rentals, or remote workers that are looking for a longer-term, but not permanent, stay.

Short-term rentals benefits
- Higher nightly prices that can be adjusted during peak seasons and per day
- Owners can use the property themselves without sacrificing a larger portion of a season
- High turnover rate can prevent cumulative damage by a renter (wall scratches, broken appliances, cleaning needs, etc.)
- Easy to advertise on vacation rental websites
Short-term rentals downsides
- More likely to have vacancy periods in the low-seasons.
- Higher turnover rates means more frequent cleaning and upkeep
- Communication needs for every new booking
Mid-term rentals benefits
- Less turnover means less time spent finding new tenants and preparing the property for new renters.
- Longer-term guests are more likely to be booking your stay as a living situation. While there’s no guarantee, you can end up with guests that are treating your property like their home, not a party.
- Online workers are becoming more common, with people craving more flexibility and freedom after the coronavirus. Remote workers will flock to your listing if you offer an appropriate discount and a long enough stay for them to enjoy the city.
- You might not be legally able to rent out your unit for less than 30 days in states like New York. Mid-length stays open more opportunities in those states and peace of mind that you’re operating according to local regulations.
- Our data shows us that about 50% of people booking mid-length stays end up repeating the booking for another month.
Mid-term rentals downsides
- Harder to take advantage of seasonal and daily demand changes.
- Reduced access to your vacation rental
- May require specific rental agreements, contracts, and managing multiple payments
Long-term rentals benefits
- Consistent income over an extended period of time
- Reduced vacancy periods
- Less day-to-day upkeep and management needs
- Tenants are responsible for personal maintenance needs (like cleanings)
Long-term rentals downsides
- Prevents you from cashing in on the higher prices of peak seasons.
- No access to your own property
- Requires rental agreements, contracts, and managing continuous payments
- Can be challenging to find the right tenants

Best Medium-Term Rental Operators and Platforms

Convinced to offer mid-length stays at your property? Here are the best mid-length rental platforms in the U.S. today.

1. Landing

Landing is a rental network of furnished apartments present in more than 375 cities. With more than 20,000 apartments available, Landing offers mid-term rentals as well as short-term and long-term stays.

Landing Direct, their property management service, helps effectively market and manage properties to millions of potential residents looking for flexible, fully furnished, long-term housing. You:

- List your home(s): Create an account and add your property(s), including pricing minimums, policies, and details about amenities and furnishings.
- Get approved: Approvals happen quickly for homes that meet Landing’s standards for furnishings, finishes, appliances, and safety.
- Start earning: Once leases are confirmed and members move in, the rent and utilities are automatically paid on the 1st of each month.
- Track performance: Monitor incoming payments, new and upcoming reservations, and update your listings from their Partner Portal.

Landing has an average occupancy of six months, which means a more stable income than short-term rentals. Have unfurnished properties? Landing offers an in-house designed furnishings package to fit any layout.

Services:
- Zero listing fees
- No utility feeds
- Background check for tenants
- Furnishings package
- Dynamic pricing
- Partners portal on their website
- 24/7 support
Pricing:
- Property owners: Landing gets an 8% service fee on revenue generated from a reservation. Property Managers of large-scale apartment communities can get in contact with them for better service.
- Tenants

2. Blueground

Blueground manages over 8,000 properties in 26 cities across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. They offer fully furnished apartments created by award-winning designers and access to an exclusive suite of partnership services – from gourmet meals & wine delivery to on-demand fitness & car rentals – designed to elevate everyday living.

With those services, it may be no surprise that members of Fortune 500 are among their clients, as well as employees of Google, Tesla, Netflix, and Uber, among hundreds of others. Their flexible, fully-furnished corporate apartments are ideal for business travelers staying for 30 days, a year, or longer.

Blueground partners with property owners; transforms their empty units into fully-furnished, turnkey apartments; and then rents them out using their vetted tenant network. Their goal is to manage each property for at least three years, but you can reach an agreement for as little as one year.

Owners will have access to the performance of their properties in real-time through documentation to keep an eye on the revenue.

Pricing: Prospective owners and guests can contact them for pricing information here.

3. Anyplace

Since Steve Naito (a digital nomad himself) and Koichi Tanaka founded Anyplace in the beginning in April of 2017, this mid-length rental platform has grown to be present in more than 450 cities across 65 countries. They’ve created accommodations tailor-made for remote workers, digital nomads, travel nurses, interns, and anyone else looking for flexibility and high-speed internet.

The properties under their care are for both short-term and long-term leases, with the average length of stay at 7 months. Most of their tenants are professionals and remote workers, like nurses, PhD students, and interns in a wide array of fields, so you know that your home will be in good hands. Regardless, they do run screenings and background checks.

4. Sextant

Sextant is a Miami-based company that prides itself on careful selection and full renovation of every property under their management. They offer properties throughout Florida and in New Orleans. Mindful of special accommodations and open to feedback, they combine a hotel’s comfort with the personalized service of a vacation rental.

The homeowners that work with them are considered partners in uplifting their properties. Sextant will help take care of everything to help maximize your rental income.

5. Sentral

Sentral manages flexible living communities in walkable neighborhoods. With their 4,400 units, they operate in 9 cities across the United States, including Chicago, Denver, Miami, and Austin. Their properties are classified as short-term stays or mid-term rentals for more than a month. Both short term and mid-term rentals come furnished. Their long-term leases are for longer than a year and can come unfurnished.

If your property is immersed in a friendly environment, this is the platform for you. Sentral’s property managers are down-to-earth, helpful, and ready to help tenants with all their needs. If you’re a Sentral resident but still a big traveler, they offer a home-sharing program in partnership with Airbnb so qualified residents can monetize their homes while they’re away.

Pricing: For information on pricing, contact them at realestate@sentral.com.

6. Mint House

With 23 properties across 14 cities, Mint House is “pioneering a new kind of stay.” Mint House’s founders were fed up with uneven vacation rentals and boxed-in hotel rooms, so they set out to create something different. Mint House combines the classic comfort of home and the modern luxury of a hotel, giving guests all the perks and none of the tradeoffs. Every part of the Mint House experience is powered by smart technology, making your stay personal, predictable and effortless.

Mint House offers modern apartments with three times the space of a hotel room that include full kitchens, huge living spaces, and in-unit laundry. Ideal for quick trips, workdays or extended stays for a minimum of 30 days, they offer a variety of reservation options (including mid-length).

Pricing: You’ll have to reach out info@minthouse.com for pricing information.

7. Sonder

Thirty-nine cities, 10 countries and three continents: that’s the reach of Sonder, a company founded in 2014 with headquarters in San Francisco. They employ modern technology to assist owners and renters alike and offer both nightly rentals and longer term stays.

Sonder signs multi-year fixed leases, mixed leases, or revenue shares as the anchor or sole tenant in your current properties and development projects, increasing NOI, accelerating lease-ups, and helping de-risk cash flow.

Their thoroughly background-checked clients include solo travelers, friends, couples and families, business travelers, and remote workers.

Pricing: Contact them at partners@sonder.com for pricing information.

8. Front Desk

If it’s about adaptation, then Frontdesk is a clear example. Despite being primarily a short-term rental business (their average stay is of three days), they have carved their place among the mid-length rental operators by offering their properties anywhere from one night to half a year. They are present in 35 markets across 13 states in America.

In their more than 1,000 units distributed in 150 buildings, they offer accommodations for travelers and workers of the modern world. Their properties are listed on sites like Expedia, Airbnb, and Booking.com. With a guest net promoter score higher than the Ritz Carlton’s, Frontdesk offers local teams, 93% retention rates, digital assistants, and more.

9. Black Swan

Black Swan has defined itself as a full-service travel company whose guests enjoy a luxury stay. They offer the comforts of home, indulgences of a luxury hotel, and immersive experiences only a local can find, all under one roof.

This small luxury rental company is currently present in Nashville, Washington D.C., Savannah, and West Palm Beach. Believing there could be a better and more interactive way for people to experience their travel dwellings, their team set out to make simple changes: cultivate a comfortably familiar yet remarkable and exclusive stay, and blend it with local experiences, culture, and intrigue.

10. AvantStay

Avantstay prioritizes properties ranging from homes to ranches with four, ten, or even more bedrooms in order to fit large groups. In their own words, their team’s passion lies in “real estate, technology, and travel.”

With their HQ in Los Angeles, AvantStay currently manages more than 600 vacation homes in over 60 destinations inside the United States and many others across the world. Their app allows vacationers to get in touch with a personal concierge and, building on that, your property can be upsold with high-end services like spa treatments and even private chefs.

AvantStay looks for homeowners with 4+ bedrooms in select destinations. On top of that, you’ll undergo a 12-month revenue projection to see if you qualify for AvantStay’s vacation rental management services.

The company works with homeowners to decorate the unit with the latest interior design trends to attract high-class clients. You’ll see your home transform into a luxurious space with stylish finishes and locally inspired decor features.

In order to maintain the properties and avoid neighborhood’s complaints, they have a strict “no parties policy.”

Despite mostly managing properties with short-term accommodations in mind, mid-term stays can be arranged.

How to Switch from Short-Term to Mid-Term Rentals

Since they are two very similar and sometimes overlapping categories, switching from a short-term to a mid-term rental segment is very doable.

Consider:

Adjusting your marketing approach: Your marketing approach would have to adjust to cater for mid-term stays (individuals in-between homes, remote workers, etc.) instead of vacationers. You’ll also want to list your property on a mid-length rental platform.
Stocking up on essentials: Whether it’s paper towel rolls, cooking basics, or an extra set of bedsheets, these can help make a satisfied guest and reduce any back-and-forth required to provide these items.
Focusing on guest communication: Though guest communication will often be reduced with longer stays, you’ll still want to be available. If a guest comes to you with an issue, they’ll appreciate a prompt response.
Adding different amenities: Extra amenities are paramount for a mid-length stay because they add an element of home comfort to a vacation. Extra amenities are also a fantastic opportunity to upsell, which can be easily managed through an ancillary software.
Optimizing pricing: Mid-term rentals usually have a lower nightly rate than short-term rentals. But that doesn’t mean they’re not profitable. Read our guide to pricing your mid-term rental here!

Of course, all the best mid-term rental operators will do a lot of this for you, and some will even furnish your entire place!

Improve Your Mid-term Rental Income

Mid-term bookings are all about making your guests comfortable enough to see your unit as an exciting new home. Every mid-term rental operator on this list prioritizes exceptional experiences for both guests and homeowners.

Mid-length stays are an excellent way to tap into new guest audiences and higher business efficiency. And losing positive seasonal price fluctuations isn’t an issue if you’re implementing the right dynamic pricing strategy. Whether you are just starting out or planning to switch to a mid-term rental, dynamic pricing is the key to optimal revenue.

Wheelhouse can help you with that! Our powerful algorithm analyzes more than 10,000,000 data points every day to help ensure the optimum price for your mid-term rental.

Start seeing more profits with Wheelhouse today!

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