Nurse Contracts, Cancellations & Hosting Tips From Your Nurse in Realty
Angie Tonini-Rogers is a real estate agent in Louisville, Kentucky. She buys houses, condos, and duplexes in any condition that she can make safe for traveling nurses. She has been a registered nurse for 18 years and has mostly worked in neonatal intensive care units, pediatrics, and psychiatry and behavioral health. This gives her a unique perspective as both a mid-term landlord and a (now) retired nurse.
Angie has always been interested in real estate, but it wasn't until 2021, when she bought three condos in three months, that she decided to really focus on it. All of these condos had two bedrooms and two bathrooms and were just under 900 square feet. She focuses on the two-bedroom, two-bathroom units because she knows that many traveling nurses want to live and work with someone else, both for safety and to save money.
To serve your target market effectively, you must first understand them. This is a fundamental marketing and business strategy principle. It is impossible to create products and services that meet your target market's expectations and earn their loyalty unless you understand their needs, wants, and preferences.
In the case of a traveling nurse, it's critical to understand the unique challenges and demands they face on a daily basis. Long hours are common, as Angie points out, and it's not uncommon for nurses to work 16-18 hour shifts. This means that traveling nurses are frequently on their feet for extended periods of time, tending to the needs of their patients and managing complex medical equipment and technology.
Furthermore, the nature of the job is emotionally draining, as nurses must deal with both patient and hospital administration demands. They may be required to work with patients who are in pain, suffering from serious illnesses, or nearing the end of their lives. This can be hard on the body and mind, so it is important to give these nurses the help they need to deal with stress and avoid burnout once they get home.
Travel Nurse Housing Must-Haves
Blackout curtains, white noise devices, and wonderfully soft beds and bedding are a few things that nurses truly value in a home. For nurses who work night shifts or have erratic sleeping patterns, blackout curtains are a necessity. These drapes keep out the sun, resulting in a dim setting that is perfect for napping throughout the day. On the other hand, white noise machines can help block out any outside sounds that would annoy a nurse as they sleep, creating a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere.
A comfortable mattress and bedding is another important thing that nurses appreciate. They need a good night's sleep to get ready for their next shift after standing on their feet for long hours. Investing in good bedding like soft, breathable sheets, soft pillows, and a supportive mattress can make a huge difference in how well a nurse sleeps. Be sure to have a few extra sets of bed linens on hand as well, so a fresh set can be thrown on the bed right away instead of waiting for the only set to be washed and dried.
It's also important for nurses, who often work odd hours and may not have access to hospital cafeterias or other places to eat at all times, to have a well-stocked kitchen. They need to be able to make and store food quickly and easily. To meet their needs, they need a kitchen with modern appliances, cooking tools, and storage options. Consider offering an option to have the refrigerator and pantry restocked with some staple foods; either as a courtesy or as a paid option.
While some individuals use televisions for both relaxation and pleasure, Angie recommends keeping TVs out of bedrooms for numerous reasons. First and foremost, the bedroom should be a haven for sleep, and having a television in the room might interfere with healthy sleep. The blue light emitted by screens can disrupt the production of melatonin, the hormone that governs sleep, making it more difficult to fall and remain asleep. Furthermore, watching TV in bed might become a harmful habit that degrades sleep quality. It can lead to binge-watching shows or movies, which can cause a delay in bedtime, resulting in sleep deprivation and daytime tiredness.
Understanding Travel Stipends for Nurses
Traveling nurse stipend pay is a compensation mechanism used by healthcare organizations to cover the costs of travel and housing for temporary nurses. The stipend is a set sum of money granted to the nurse to cover costs incurred while working away from home. The stipend is often provided in addition to the nurse's normal earnings and might vary depending on a number of criteria, such as the facility's location, the duration of the assignment, and the cost of living in the region. Most of the time, the stipend is calculated using the IRS's per diem rate standards, which include the average cost of housing, food, and other expenses in a certain place.
While travel nurses are paid more to help with living expenses, that doesn't mean they want to spend it all on rent. This is why Angie prefers to rent out two bedroom units because it allows the nurses to share the cost of rent, saving them money.
Visit the Furnished Finder Travel Nurse Stipend Calculator to obtain a better understanding of typical stipends in your area, which will help you better market your rental property to cater to traveling nurses. The Travel Nurse Stipend Calculator considers the current average stipend rates for a given city and estimates the monthly stipend a traveling nurse might get. The Travel Nurse Stipend Calculator can also help you assess the local competition. By comparing your rental price to other listings in the same area, you can ensure that you are offering competitive rent and attracting more traveling nurses.
In addition to using the Stipend Calculator, Angie's approaches pricing her properties by looking at the typical long-term rents for a comparable unit along with the rent for short-term units, (which are generally 2.5 times more expensive than long-term.) She's able to establish her mid-term rents somewhere in the middle, which will be 1.5–2 times the rent of long-term rentals.
Handling Rent Negotiation Requests
Nurses and others who require a mid-term rental for the first time are frequently surprised by the additional cost associated with renting a furnished home. If you receive communication from possible tenants asking if you can reduce your pricing, whether you are willing to or not, this is an excellent time to educate them on why those extra costs exist (and essentially convince them why your property is perfect for them).
Explain the attentive furnishings you provided, such as the extremely comfortable mattress and bedding, blackout curtains, a fully equipped kitchen, and all the other careful details you put into making your house ready to live in the moment they arrive. Highlight how other comparable properties are subpar in comparison to yours, the desirability of your neighborhood, nearby activities and restaurants, and so forth. Don't take offense to someone asking for a lower price; because they probably just don't understand the mid-term rental market.
Since most travel nurses are unable to see the property in person, having a 3D walkthrough available online allows them to visualize and become acquainted with your home, which can help entice and justify a higher rent. Angie enjoys working with Matterport. You've probably seen their interactive images, which allow users to virtually walk through a home by clicking on different regions of the image. Matterport is now accessible as an app for your smartphone and is simple to use.
Allowing Pets
Some landlords are hesitant to allow pets in their units considering that nurses often work such long hours and the pet may be inside by itself. Angie believes that not allowing pets is not the best business decision for landlords because it reduces the pool of potential tenants who would otherwise be happy to rent. If a landlord is concerned about potential damage or stains from a pet, just be sure to include additional pet rent or a pet fee to cover those potential costs.
Vetting Potential Tenants
Angie screens her tenants by requesting a copy of their driver's license and travel contract from their hospital or staffing agency, and she frequently utilizes Keycheck for a short background check. If she has any concerns about a possible renter or their pet, she will request a reference from their prior landlord. In general, the nurses' staffing agency or hospital already checks their background, and they do it again for each new travel nurse contract. This means that working with travel nurses often leads to great renters.
Check-in and Check-out
Check-in days for her nurses are straightforward and simple. She provides remote access to her units through smart door locks. She prepares them as best she can with an email detailing everything about the property, nearby amenities, and frequently asked questions.
When it comes time to checkout, Angie suggests landlords do a quick walk-through with the tenant if possible. This is especially important if you have a damage or security deposit that may need to be given back to the tenant or used to cover damages.
Consider supplying a document with images detailing how everything in the home appeared at move-in, including where dishes, pots, and pans go, furniture, and so on, to make your checkout procedure easy for both the tenant and the landlord. Some renters may arrange items in a way that makes sense to them because they will be living there for a number of months, but doing so may disrupt the landlord's process of preparing the home for the next tenant. The move out process is much smoother if the renter understands what is expected of them, such as how much the home should be picked up or cleaned before moving out, how to put items back in their proper positions, and so on.
Leasing Contract Options
Angie chooses to provide her tenants with the option of renewable month-to-month leases as travel nurses sometimes have their contracts at their medical facilities canceled early and would need to leave prematurely. Rather than keeping them on the hook for rent they may owe for a number of months, having a renewable month-to-month lease sets their minds at ease. She likes this leasing option because most of her tenants request it, even though she's open to doing longer contracts. She wants what's best for her tenants and understands the industry that they live in.
Staying on Top of Furnished Finder's Search Results
Angie notes that staying prominent in Furnished Finder's search results can be achieved by responding to messages quickly, taking high-quality photos and perhaps most importantly, updating your property's availability calendar frequently.
In conclusion, catering to travel nurses can be a lucrative opportunity for landlords. By better understanding their unique needs and providing comfortable, flexible, and safe accommodations, landlords can attract reliable and responsible tenants who will appreciate the convenience and comfort of a well-managed rental. Furthermore, building a positive reputation in the travel nursing community can lead to repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals, expanding your pool of potential tenants. With a little extra effort and attention to detail, landlords can tap into the growing demand for travel nurse housing and create a mutually beneficial arrangement for themselves and their tenants.
