Midterm Rental Furnishing Payback Calculator

Furnishing an MTR is an upfront investment paid back through rent premium.

Furnishing cost

Setup/design cost

Monthly rent premium

Occupancy %

Payback months

28.5

Total investment

$20,500

Effective monthly premium

$720

How the math works

Investment = furnishing + setup. Effective premium = monthly × occupancy. Payback = investment ÷ effective premium.

$20.5k investment ÷ ($900 × 80% = $720/mo effective premium) = 28.5 months payback.

How to Use

Enter furnishing cost.
Enter setup/design cost.
Enter monthly rent premium vs unfurnished.
Enter occupancy %.
Read payback months.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the midterm rental premium?

MTR (30-day minimum) furnished rentals typically command 25-60% rent premium over unfurnished long-term rentals. Traveling nurse markets: 40-70%. Corporate relocation: 30-55%. Insurance/FEMA claims: 50-100%+. Premium is driven by (1) flexibility (no 12-month lock), (2) fully equipped (no moving cost for tenant), (3) utilities + internet included. Premium shrinks in soft markets as MTRs face STR and LTR competition simultaneously.

Typical furnishing costs?

Studio: $4k-8k basic, $10k-15k designer. 1BR: $8k-14k basic, $18k-28k designer. 2BR: $14k-22k basic, $28k-45k designer. 3BR: $22k-38k basic, $45k-75k designer. Include: furniture, mattresses, kitchenware, linens, art, rugs, window treatments, small appliances, smart locks, Wi-Fi setup. Furnished Finder and Zeus Living publish benchmark datasets. Spec depends on target rate — nurse rentals cheaper than corporate relo.

What drives the occupancy variable?

Most MTRs run 70-85% occupancy (10-15 days vacancy between 60-90 day bookings). Low season and unit-class mismatches pull down to 50-65%. Institutional operators (Landing, Zeus, Blueground) target 90%+ through large-inventory distribution. Amateur operators often overlook the 5-10 day turnover buffer and end up at 65-70% when they modeled 85% — this is the #1 underwriting error in MTR.

How do you accelerate payback?

Rate discipline (don't discount first tenant below model), traveling nurse list membership (FurnishedFinder.com: $100-150/yr), direct landlord network in corporate relo (HR departments book multi-year steady), insurance placement registry (Alacrity, Cort, CHBO). Each adds inventory utilization 3-8 points. Fast payback (6-10 months) is achievable if all four demand channels are lit up. Slower (18+ months) when relying solely on Airbnb 30-day listings.