Does anyone have experience with long-term Airbnbs?

[monalua]

We're planning to move this summer and are looking at the possibility of staying in an Airbnb if our house sells before we find a new house (and storing our stuff in Pods). Does anyone have experience with long-term Airbnbs on either side (owner/guest)? Any tips, things we should think about beforehand? Looking at a stay of 1-4 months max. We have 3 kids, no pets. Thanks in advance.

[thebreakfastclub]

We moved states a few years ago for work and my company used a corporate housing service to set us up in a fully-equipped apartment complex. You can google the city + corporate housing to find those resources where you are going.

I think I'd prefer that to an Airbnb arrangement with a private owner. We had to extend our stay for one month based on closing dates and it was no hassle at all. The flexibility on dates was key in that situation. The complex also had a pool and playground that we used a lot.

[wanderingback]

Only for a month. During residency I had to do some of my abortion training out of state. I got a little bit of funding for my travel but otherwise most of the lodging was paid for by me and Airbnb was affordable. It was fine in both cities.

If I had kids and things needed to be flexible (buying or renting a house things might change as you might not be able to predict the day you need to move out) I would look into corporate housing or short term furnished rental options from management companies first.

[orval]

I would also look at furnishedfinder.com My sister used this when she moved to a new area for a few months.

They are designed for longer term stays(ie travel nurses).

[rhian]

Not as an adult, but when we moved internationally when I was a kid, we stayed in serviced apartments for a few months while we waited for our stuff to arrive. I'd look at those or other furnished apartment options before Airbnb. Maybe your realtor has some suggestions?

[dove]

We did this with our last move. Husband got transferred to a different state and we sold our house during the madness of Covid real estate so finding a house was challenging. It was actually a good thing for us. We decided to Air B&B a month in 2 different parts of town we were considering. It gave us a good feel for what it would be like to live there.

[seatown]

I have experience with this on both sides. We do long term and short term rentals for our unit. We also recently had to stay in an Airbnb for 4-5 months during an unexpected home remodel.

For short term stays we use Airbnb, but for long term stays we typically use a lease. If you find a place you like, you might consider reaching out to the homeowner directly to see if they’re open to doing a lease since that saves quite a bit on booking fees for both you and them.

I also second the recommendation to check out Furnished Finder. It’s mainly for travel professionals (travel nurses, tech workers, interns etc.) and there are no booking fees for you to use it.

[JayhawkGirl]

We found one for MIL’s 3 month visit last year. The host has provided her direct contact for future rentals to save the site host fees. It was fine from our perspective. She was fussy that they had to buy their own toilet paper etc.