Furnished Finder: A Landlord's Checklist

Mid-term rental platforms have made a real market out of housing travelling healthcare workers, and Phoenix is one of the busiest cities on them. The listings that fill are furnished ones. A traveller on a thirteen-week contract is arriving with a car and two bags; an empty unit is not a candidate.

So the first job is furnishing, and the first decision is whether you own that furniture or not.

What a mid-term tenant actually needs

This is not a vacation rental and it is not a permanent home. Your tenant will cook most meals, work long shifts, and sleep at irregular hours. Furnish for that:

• Bedroom: a proper bed with linens, and blackout in the bedroom if you can manage it. Night-shift tenants sleep during the day, and this is the single most commented-on feature in the category.
• Kitchen: fully equipped, not token. Pots, pans, knives, plates, glassware, utensils, and something to store leftovers in. Travellers cook to save the stipend.
• Living room: comfortable seating and a flat screen. Decompression space after a twelve-hour shift.
• Dining: a table that also works as a desk. Charting and continuing education happen at home.
• Bath: towels included. Nobody wants to buy towels for thirteen weeks.
• Lighting: lamps in every room. It matters more than anything on this list costs.

Our packages are built around this list — living room, bedroom with linens, dining, kitchen essentials and housewares, bath accessories with towels, TV, lamps and artwork — and can be adjusted where your unit already has something.

Why renting the furniture suits this market

Mid-term rental is a churn business. Tenants rotate every three to six months, and the furniture takes that wear on your behalf. Buying means you are also in the furniture replacement business, at retail, forever.

Renting puts the furniture on the same footing as the rest of your operating costs. It arrives, it is set up properly — beds made, kitchen organised, towels hung, artwork on the wall — and when you change what you are doing with the unit, it goes away. There is no damage waiver fee to reconcile; normal wear and tear is expected.

It also lets you test the strategy. If you are not sure mid-term letting suits you, furnishing a unit for one season costs a fraction of what committing to it does.

Three things Arizona landlords should check

• The thirty-day line. A stay of more than 29 days is residential rental in Arizona, not short-term lodging. Different tax treatment, and you want a real lease. Most healthcare contracts are thirteen weeks, so you are always past it.
• Peak season. January through March is the busiest quarter for furniture statewide. Furnish in the autumn if you can, and note that a six-month term is exempt from peak rates entirely.
• Access for turnovers. You do not need to be present for delivery or collection. With written permission, your property manager or the building office can let our crew in.

Getting a unit ready

Tell us the bedroom count, the city, and whether the unit has anything already. We will quote the package, and you will have a number you can hold against your projected rent before you commit to the listing.

Start with the Corporate package, which is what most mid-term units take, and send us the details.