Mid-Term Rentals vs STR: When 30-Day Stays Are More Profitable

Fee guidance reviewed September 23, 2026: Airbnb is transitioning all home hosts to a single service fee and phasing out split fees. Most single-fee hosts pay 15.5%; use the fee shown for your reservation. Worked examples using 3% illustrate the legacy split-fee model. Airbnb fee guidance.

If your city just banned STRs under 30 days, MTR may be the best use of your property.

Investors started looking at MTR when cities restricted STRs, but regulation is not the only reason to use it. In some markets, MTR earns more than short-term renting. This post covers when that is true, when it is not, and how to run the comparison for your property.

What counts as a mid-term rental

A mid-term rental is any furnished stay in the 30-to-90-day range. The 30-day floor matters most. Most cities define a short-term rental as a stay under 30 days, which is why STR licenses, permit caps, and nightly bans apply to them. Under most local definitions, a guest staying 31 days is not an STR guest, so a different set of rules applies to you.

MTRs fall between STRs and long-term leases. You avoid 2-night turnovers every weekend, and you are not locked into a 12-month tenant. The ideal guest stays 45-90 days, pays upfront, and leaves the unit in decent shape.

MTRs should still be furnished rentals. You are running a furnished, corporate-style unit with a defined end date, not a standard long-term lease with a month-to-month clause. Never let a 30+ day guest move in without a clear written agreement stating that the stay is for a fixed term and that standard residential tenancy laws don't apply.

Who rents mid-term

MTR demand is larger than most STR operators expect. Most renters fall into five groups:

• Travel nurses. They work 13-week hospital contracts, need furnished housing on short notice, have reliable income, and rebook often. They are the best MTR tenant group.
• Remote workers. These are employees or contractors doing extended project work away from home. Stays of 4-12 weeks are common.
• Insurance displacement. These are homeowners whose primary residence is under repair after a fire, flood, or major claim. Insurance often covers furnished housing for 30-90 days. These guests tend to be careful with the property.
• Corporate relocations. Employees moving to a new city need furnished housing while they look for a permanent place. HR departments at large employers coordinate this directly.
• Digital nomads. These location-independent workers stay in one city for weeks or months and prefer a real home over a hotel or cramped Airbnb. Airbnb's monthly discount pricing is aimed at this group.

Markets near major hospital systems, corporate headquarters, universities, or military bases tend to have the most MTR demand. If a hospital complex near you rotates 3,000 traveling nurses through each year, you have a recurring tenant pool.

MTR vs STR income, side by side

MTR nightly rates are lower than STR rates. A 2BR in Nashville that gets $185/night on Airbnb might rent for $115-$125/night as an MTR. That 35-40% gap looks bad on paper, but comparing nightly rates leaves out three things that change the result.

Three factors close the nightly rate gap:

• Occupancy. A well-run STR hits 65-75% in most non-peak markets. An MTR runs 95-100% because one guest stays all month, so there are no gaps between bookings.
• Cleaning costs. STR cleanings cost $120-$200 each and happen every 2-3 days. An MTR might need one light mid-stay clean and one exit clean per month.
• Supplies and restocking. You restock coffee pods, paper towels, and toiletries after every STR guest. MTR guests buy their own after the first week.

In this example, MTR gross revenue is about 7% lower than STR, but MTR nets about $1,066 more per month once cleaning, fees, and supplies come out. Enter your actual cleaning costs and occupancy in the deal analyzer to see which option earns more.

When MTR wins

MTR beats STR in three situations.

Tight STR regulations

New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Denver each have permit caps, primary residence requirements, or outright bans on sub-30-day rentals. If you can't legally operate an STR, or the permit waitlist is 18 months, MTR is a legal and often financially comparable alternative. Check what your local STR regulations say about 30+ day stays before assuming you're regulated.

High turnover costs

If cleaning costs $200+ per turn in your market and your average stay is 2-3 nights, turnover takes a large share of your margin. Markets with expensive labor (San Francisco, New York, Hawaii) are hit hardest. MTR cuts turnovers to about one per month.

Strong corporate or healthcare demand

If you're near a major hospital system, a Fortune 500 campus, or a military installation, MTR demand is steady and well-funded. Travel nurses need housing on 2-3 days notice and will pay a premium for a reliable furnished unit. Corporate relocation packages often include a housing budget that makes your $3,500/month unit look cheap compared to extended-stay hotels at $180/night.

When STR wins

STR beats MTR in high-tourism markets with strong seasonal demand.

A beach house in 30A, Florida can get $500-$700/night in summer. The MTR nightly equivalent would be $200-$250, so MTR gives up a large share of revenue. The same holds for Colorado ski markets during peak winter weeks and for coastal markets in summer.

STR also wins when major festivals, conventions, or sports events push nightly rates well above MTR pricing. MTR locks in a fixed monthly rate, so you can't reprice for a sold-out Taylor Swift weekend.

Platforms for mid-term rentals

MTR uses a different mix of platforms than STR, and where you list decides which tenants you attract.

Furnished Finder

Furnished Finder is the most purpose-built MTR platform in the US. Most of its renters are travel nurses and other healthcare professionals. Landlords pay a flat annual listing fee instead of a commission on each booking. It has fewer bookings than Airbnb, but tenant quality is consistent and the fee structure favors hosts.

Airbnb monthly stays (28+ day filter)

Airbnb lets you set a monthly discount for stays of 28+ days, separate from your nightly rate. The percentage discount applies automatically. For example, if your nightly rate is $160, you might set a 30% monthly discount, bringing the effective nightly rate to $112 for long stays.

Using Airbnb for MTR means you're still paying Airbnb host fees, but you reach Airbnb's large audience of remote workers and extended-stay travelers. List on Airbnb alongside Furnished Finder, not instead of it.

Facebook groups and direct corporate outreach

Few hosts use these channels, and they charge no fees. Local Facebook housing groups, relocation groups, and travel nurse groups produce real bookings. Building a presence takes more work upfront, but with no platform commission you keep the full rent.

Direct outreach to HR managers at large local employers (hospitals, tech campuses, consulting firms) gets results over time. One relationship with an HR coordinator who handles 20 relocations per year can fill your calendar. Start with a one-page flyer about your property and email it to 10 local companies.

Other platforms worth knowing: Corporate Housing by Owner (CHBO), Hotpads, and Zumper all have furnished monthly rental categories. None match Furnished Finder or Airbnb for volume, but they're free to list on.

How MTR operations differ

Running an MTR day to day is different from running an STR, and mostly easier.

• Cleaning. You do one exit clean per month instead of 10-15 turnovers. Some hosts schedule a mid-stay clean at the halfway point, but it's optional and the tenant handles day-to-day upkeep.
• Guest communications. You have one check-in conversation, occasional mid-stay messages, and one checkout. STR hosting during peak weeks means messages every day.
• Supplies. Stock the unit fully on arrival. After that, guests buy their own coffee, toiletries, and paper products, so your restocking bill drops.
• Wear and tear. One guest using the unit for 60 days typically causes less cumulative damage than 20 different guests cycling through in the same period.
• Income stability. You know your revenue 30, 60, and 90 days out. STR cash flow swings with seasonality, algorithm changes, and booking gaps.

The one operational risk with MTRs is tenant eviction. If a guest refuses to leave after the agreed stay, removing them is less clear-cut than with an STR guest. That is why you need a solid written agreement. Have a real estate attorney review your MTR agreement template once. It is worth the cost.

The hybrid approach

In seasonal markets, you can run both.

Run STR during your peak demand season: summer for beach markets, winter for ski markets, spring and fall for urban markets. Rates are highest, occupancy is strong, and short stays let you charge event and weekend premiums.

During the off-season, when STR nightly rates drop 30-40% and occupancy falls to 40-50%, switch to MTR. One travel nurse booking for the whole slow season covers your mortgage and expenses without constant turnovers at low rates.

The operational switch is simple: set your minimum stay to 30 days on Airbnb, activate your Furnished Finder listing, and block your calendar for short stays during the MTR window. When peak season approaches, reverse those steps. You can usually find a 30-60 day MTR guest who will commit to a start date that matches your switch back to STR.

If you're running rental arbitrage, check whether your lease allows 30+ day sublets. Many leases that prohibit STRs are silent on longer stays. Before you sign an arbitrage lease for an MTR strategy, read the rental arbitrage numbers guide to check that your margins work at MTR pricing.

Also verify that your short-term rental insurance policy covers mid-term stays. Some STR policies explicitly exclude stays over 30 days. You may need a separate landlord policy or a policy that explicitly covers furnished medium-term rentals. Confirm coverage before a guest moves in, not after a claim.

Frequently asked questions