If you’re looking to relocate right now, a popular solution that may best fit your current rental needs is a short-term lease. Properties offering short-term lease options sometimes feature exciting cost and lifestyle benefits that conventional rentals do not provide. That can make them attractive alternatives to long-term lease commitments. Let’s look at what’s involved in finding and leasing an apartment, townhouse, or other home type for a short period and the pros and cons of choosing a short-term rental.
What is a Short-Term Lease?
It's important to clarify that Rental homes or apartments with short-term leases are not traditionally the same thing as vacation rentals.
Vacation Rental Agreement
A vacation rental commitment involves merely reserving a residential unit for temporary recreational or other purposes. The visitor signs an agreement to follow a set of conditions, such as the cancellation policy, the check-in and check-out procedure, etc.
Short-Term Lease
A short-term lease refers to a rental housing commitment that is more brief than a traditional longer lease for an apartment, townhouse, single-family home, or other full-time dwelling. But, beyond the shorter contract duration, the lease provisions are substantially the same as in a typical longer lease.
Pros and Cons of Short-Term Leasing
There are abundant benefits of renting short-term, like greater flexibility to negotiate attractive lease terms, cost-savings opportunities (especially seasonally), and many more advantages. But, as with anything else, there are predictable disadvantages in short-term leasing, like less housing stability than a longer lease provides. Here are some of the pros and cons of short-term leasing:
Pros of Short-Term Leasing
A short-term lease can be ideal for professionals on brief work assignments, travelers who want the comforts of a real home, or people moving to an area who are undecided on where in town they want permanent housing. In these and many other circumstances, the potential advantages of a short-term lease may include:
- Flexibility: Short-term leases can help people who need flexible rental terms during a job change, extended travel, selling a home, or in many other cases.
- Rental Cost Savings - Long Term: Properties offering short-term leases may provide a lower cost of entry into the local rental market. That may make relocation more affordable for many people than stepping directly into a long-term lease. This can work especially well for those who need interim housing for a specific timeframe.
- Low-risk Obligation: Properties offering short-term lease agreements can be the best option for people who prefer not to commit to a long-term lease contract during a major personal life change.
- Unique Housing: Short-term rentals sometimes offer unique properties with one or more amenities not usually included on properties with long-term rentals only. For example, a private pool or hot tub for the rental unit, a sauna, recreation room, or even a bar on the property, close access to public attractions, etc.
- Full or Partial Furnishing: Many short-term rental units are available, fully or partially furnished, which means new occupants can move in and start enjoying a comfortable home immediately, without having to haul furniture or buy it.
- Equipped Kitchen: Short-term rentals frequently include a fully-equipped kitchen, enabling renters to start cooking as soon as they move in, even before unpacking.
- Potentially Negotiable Rates: In locations where short-term rentals are offered seasonally as an alternative to vacation rentals, lease rates may be negotiable. In some areas, rates may even be deeply discounted during the off-season.
- Less Wear and Tear: Short-term renters at a property may exercise more care to preserve the property condition. Knowing the move-out date is near may inspire many to heightened consciousness of the need to leave a place as good as when they arrived.
- More Enjoyable Neighborhood: Short-term rental properties often attract a much wider range of renters, with diverse interests and plans, creating a more engaging and even exhilarating community environment.
Cons of Short-Term Leasing
Choosing to rent short-term can offer big advantages, but, like everything, it naturally comes with a few inherent disadvantages too. To start, it can be harder to find an availability at a short-term rental property than at properties with traditional lease terms. Here are a few other issues in short-term renting to consider:
- Higher Monthly Rental Cost: Renting short-term may require a higher monthly rent rate and possibly added fees, vs. a long-term lease with a lower rate.
- Less Housing Stability: Short-term leases offer less long-term stability compared to the greater security of a long-term lease, which locks in your rental rate. Plus, having a short-term lease means you may be faced with moving more often, depending on the renewal options stipulated in your lease.
- Neighborhood Impacts: Communities with short-term rental properties can experience increased noise or other annoyances, parking shortages, inconsistent trash disposal, and other issues that can negatively affect your enjoyment of your home.
- Increased Deposits and Fees: While renting short-term can cost less by some measures, there may be higher upfront damage deposits and added fees for various services and amenities.
Tips for People Considering Short-Term Rentals
Now that you know the common pros and cons of short-term leasing, follow these important tips to avoid unwanted surprises and succeed in your search for a rental home you will enjoy.
Assess Your Lifestyle Needs and Preferences.
- Does a short-term lease make the best sense for your short- and long-term plans?
- Do the benefits of a short-term rental commitment outweigh the level of your risk for even earlier changes in your plans, such as an unexpected need to move sooner?
Do Your Homework on the Property and Market.
- Does the property or neighborhood you’ve selected have any significant issues you haven’t yet discovered? For example, roadside parking restrictions, ongoing legal disputes with the municipality, sewage system problems during rain, etc.
- Shop around for the best value in short-term lease properties offered in the area where you want to live. Then, evaluate the short-term option compared to longer leases to help ensure you’re satisfied with the cost-effectiveness of your choice.
Make sure you understand all the terms and conditions of your short-term lease.
- Carefully examine all clauses, including criteria for the full return of your security deposit, lease renewal options, property use restrictions, maintenance work requests, tenant responsibilities, etc.
- Find out all undisclosed charges before you sign the lease. For example, parking fees, cleaning fees, pet fees, common area use fees, or other charges.
- Make sure the property owner or manager seems responsive during all your initial communications.
Key Factors to Consider Before Leasing Short Term
As you think about looking for a rental property to lease briefly, it’s most important to weigh all the pros and cons of short-term rentals discussed above, and familiarize yourself with the list of tips for short-term rental seekers. You are also well advised to web search: “local, state, and federal laws governing short-term rentals,” and acquaint yourself with those variables.
It’s also worthwhile to note the role of the property owner in short-term leasing. There are more frequent re-rental preparations, lease transactions, tenant communications, advertising efforts to fill vacancies, and so on. Overall, management activities are more intensive and costly. So, efficiency is critical to profitability. That’s great for tenants, in principle. But, it also means owners must have tenants with good rental histories to help ensure the turnover cycle is financially sustainable. The message here is to choose a property with a reputation for consistent quality.
By understanding the pros and cons of short-term residential leasing, applying the tips above, and keeping in mind the additional important factors covered here, you’ll be better prepared to make a well-informed choice about which form of rental agreement is truly the best for your particular needs for a given period of months and the years beyond.
