Short- and Mid-Term Rentals Beat Long-Term Rentals: Live in Your Own Home and Earn Other People’s Money!

More and more homeowners are considering moving from traditional long-term rentals to short-term rentals. What advantages do short- and mid-term rentals offer that help them stand out?

From income potential and flexibility to property maintenance, short- and mid-term rentals offer owners unprecedented opportunities, especially in a market such as the United States. Today, let us examine four core advantages and explain why short- and mid-term rentals can be more attractive than long-term rentals.

1. Long-term rentals protect problem tenants; short- and mid-term rentals offer greater security

U.S. rental laws provide extensive protection for long-term tenants, creating many challenges for owners.

Difficult evictions: Evicting a long-term tenant can take months or longer. Owners must pay legal fees and utilities during that time, and may also encounter tenants’ financial problems that cause the property’s condition to deteriorate.

High maintenance costs: After tenants move out, owners often find that extensive repairs are needed, increasing costs further.

By comparison, the short- and mid-term rental model fundamentally avoids these problems:

Guests must pay the full accommodation charge before booking. The platform, such as Airbnb, holds the payment and sends it directly to the owner after check-in.

If guests overstay without checking out, this constitutes unlawful occupation, and owners can contact the police directly to handle it.

This is one key reason short- and mid-term rentals have grown rapidly, offering owners greater security and convenience.

2. Flexibility: Earn when renting it out and enjoy freedom when using it yourself

Short- and mid-term rentals are not only a way to earn money, but also a lifestyle choice.

Stay whenever you like: Owners can reserve their homes for vacations when available—for example, spending summers in Seattle and winters in Arizona or abroad, while earning passive income by listing the home on short-term rental platforms when it is vacant.

Hosting friends and family: Visiting friends or relatives can use the short-term rental home without incurring additional accommodation costs.

Imagine this:

When friends ask, “Which hotel are you staying at in xxx?” the owner can proudly reply, “My own home.” Long-term rentals cannot offer that freedom and satisfaction.

3. More advantages when selling, with a quicker sale

Short- and mid-term rental homes offer greater flexibility and market appeal when it comes time to sell:

Flexible timing: Short- and mid-term rentals can be listed for sale at any time to capture the best market opportunity, whereas long-term rentals must wait for tenants to move out before going on the market.

Appealing to investors: Short- and mid-term rental homes are already finished and furnished, with professional marketing photos, making them immediately attractive to buyers, especially Airbnb investors.

Additional sales opportunities: Some guests fall in love with a home during their stay and even express interest in buying, giving owners another route to a sale.

Compared with long-term rentals, short- and mid-term rentals can bring owners higher rental income and offer advantages when realizing a property’s increased value through a sale.

4. Keeping the property in good condition over time

Many owners mistakenly believe frequent short-term stays cause more wear. The opposite is actually true:

Regular cleaning and inspections: Short-term rental platforms require owners to clean before each guest arrives and maintain high ratings, meaning the home stays in top condition.

Less wear from use: Most short- and mid-term guests are tourists who generally do not cook or remain in the property for long periods, using its facilities much less than long-term tenants.

Generally speaking:

A long-term rental may need extensive renovation when a tenant leaves, while regular maintenance under the short- and mid-term model can effectively reduce long-term repair costs.

For high-end properties, short-term rentals are an excellent way to maintain value.

Summary: Short- and mid-term rentals let owners earn more and live more freely

The four advantages of short- and mid-term rentals fundamentally address many difficulties of long-term renting:

Less worry about problem tenants, and greater security for payments;

Flexibility to rent the home out or use it yourself;

Greater competitiveness when selling the property;

Maintaining the home’s condition over time with less effort and worry.

Whether through income potential or asset flexibility, short- and mid-term rentals offer owners new possibilities. If you are considering switching or would like more management advice, please contact us!

If you:

Hope to increase rental income through short-term rentals;

Cannot spare a great deal of time to handle the small details;

Occasionally need to use the home yourself, making it unsuitable to empty out the furniture for a long-term rental;

Then:

Snowball Rentals’ management team is your best choice.

From pre-launch vacation-rental styling, big-data analysis and online marketing to tenant screening, dynamic pricing, customer service and sales, cleaning and repairs, Snowball Rentals provides everything as one complete service for your home.

This Week’s Booking Results

Through long-standing relationships with insurers, assignment companies and technology companies, Snowball Rentals rents homes for medium- and long-term durations at short-term rates, then gives owners a rebate of 5% in management fees to maximize their income.

As the weather gets cooler, Seattle’s short-term rental low season is approaching again.

Short-term rentals in peak season and mid-term rentals in low season: this is the new strategy we have repeatedly emphasized and tried this year! Some recent large bookings have been like a ray of sunshine. Homeowners, let us support one another and face the approaching low season with confidence.

The detached Medina home below can be found on Redfin, where its estimated long-term monthly rent is about $12,187.

With the owner’s trust and support, we carefully furnished the home and immediately began short-term rental operations. Fortunately, because the home’s condition and location are both good, short- and mid-term bookings have continued to come in.

As shown in the booking screenshot below, a guest recently contacted us directly to rent this home from March 1 to October 31 next year, a total of 244 nights, at an average monthly rent of approximately $19,260.

In summary, after Snowball Rentals began operating this property, its monthly rental income increased from $12,187 to $19,260, an increase of about 58%. .

Securing such a large booking in low season is no easy feat!

Notably, this guest is a well-known hockey player!

For homeowners, combining short- and mid-term rentals in this way can earn more in peak season and help them get through low season smoothly. Even if the low-season rental figures look less dramatic, they still outperform long-term rentals and give homeowners a strong sense of financial security.

More importantly, the owner does not have to worry about maintenance or cleaning. When something needs to be discussed with guests, we also help with communication and oversight.

Here, we again thank the owner for placing trust in the Snowball Rentals team!

After nearly two years of Airbnb’s downturn, we at Snowball Rentals hope to help owners make steady progress in low season, navigate the challenges safely and lay a better foundation for next year’s peak season.

Once again, heartfelt thanks to our homeowners for their trust and support. Whether the market is strong or weak, Snowball Rentals will stand with you and look for ways to increase your income!

Some homeowners will surely ask the hard question: was a large booking like this just a stroke of luck? What if the home does not rent? A long-term rental is more stable—even earning less is better than earning nothing!

Our answer is: the outcome depends on what we do.

Vacation-Rental Styling

Competition on Airbnb is becoming increasingly intense. The days of piecing together secondhand furniture, taking phone photos and earning easy money on Airbnb are over. Airbnb hosts have moved toward professional operations.

Careful design and furnishing before launch, followed by professional short-term rental operations, will be the only choice for a rental that continues to generate high income.

Here is another of Snowball Rentals’ core services: vacation-rental styling!

Here is the before-and-after comparison for the detached home above, following our careful furnishing:

When choosing a short-term rental on Airbnb, would this home’s appearance attract you?

If you would also like to make your home more attractive and earn more rent, please contact us at any time!

We also share practical vacation-rental styling plans and creative ideas to help you achieve more with less spending!

Keep rental income growing!

Visit vacation-rental stylist Xiao An’s website. We regularly share our latest home-furnishing insights and hope you find them useful!

Website: design.snowballrentals.com

Referral Rewards

If you are already a Snowball Rentals homeowner, you receive a US$500 referral fee for each referral.

If you are not yet a Snowball Rentals homeowner, you receive a US$250 shopping voucher for each referral.

Snowball Rentals Management

1. Full service — We provide pre-launch rental design, furniture procurement, furnishing, professional photography, online marketing, copywriting, tenant service and sales, cleaning, supply purchasing and property repairs. You only need to be a hands-off owner; we handle the rest.

2. Multi-platform promotion — We promote the home on Airbnb, VRBO, HomeAway and other mainstream platforms for maximum exposure.

3. Dynamic pricing — Using big data, we adjust prices every day according to seasonal demand, holidays, last-minute vacancy offers, weekends and local activities, maximizing the owner’s income.

4. Income-improvement SOP — We follow 44 secrets for maximizing short-term rental income, optimizing each property’s online marketing, on-site operations and other aspects to work toward maximum income.

5. Flexible owner stays — Owners can flexibly choose when to stay themselves. This is especially suitable for owners with multiple residences around the world.

6. Terminate at any time — Management does not require an annual commitment. The owner can end the agreement with one month’s advance notice.

7. Corporate housing — In addition to nightly rentals, we work with insurers and assignment companies to provide executives with hotel-style managed accommodation for stays 30 days or more.

8. Transparent fees — For rentals 30 days or more, we charge 15% of accommodation revenue. For nightly rentals 30 days or less, we charge 20% of accommodation revenue.