Why Mid-Term Rentals May Be a Better Option for Hosts… And Guests:

A few years ago, we moved into our home in Fontainbleau, excited by the possibility of offering short term rentals (AirBnB) in the attached apartment. What a great way to host visitors, enjoy meeting new people, and gain some income without giving up our space to a full time tenant!

We wanted the apartment to also host friends and family, and Airbnb seemed the best of all worlds for us, so it was the first area of our home to be fixed up in the renovation process, and the journey began.

That was 2017, and we had immediate action, filling the calendar for visitors stays – even before we got moved in ourselves.

Stay after happy stay, our guests gave us rave reviews, and I was soon a “Super Host,” truly proud to be an ambassador to our city by sharing our tips and tricks and recommendations with excited travelers. It was an amazing experience for two years.

Then, suddenly, short-term stays came under attack in New Orleans. I gave the history of it in another blog post, and it ended with our license expiring without the opportunity to re-apply. The whole issue was in limbo, and we could no longer use AirBnB, VRBO or any other short term platform for booking stays in our adorable cottage.

We were luckier than many other hosts. My real estate company specializes in furnished rentals throughout the city – for longer stays. I was able to shift us easily into what is now called “Mid-Term Rental” mode.

Mid-Term rentals are a “new thing,” according to Furnished Finder and other platforms. In reality, we’ve been doing them for over 15 years – we’ve always called them corporate rentals.

Any stay of a month or longer falls into this category, and we’ve had hundreds of amazing guests who came to work or seek medical treatments, enjoy a “Snowbird” season, or work in “digital nomad” mode – especially during Covid.

But we never let go of hope for our Airbnb… we’ve been trying to get our Short Term Rental license back for years – and finally, we have. There’s no one else within the square blocks around us doing STR, so we qualified for the license, jumped through all the new hoops and regulations, and we are once again “legal” to host short term stays.

…. And… Nothing is happening. Not. One. Booking.

My husband says, “It’s only been two weeks!”

I say… “It’s Jazz Fest weekend, and we haven’t had a single one. That has never happened, short notice or not.”

Beyond that, I did a search to check our listing, and there were over EIGHT HUNDRED available rentals for Jazz Fest (second weekend). That’s ominous. That’s unprecedented. I have never seen anything like it before.

So… oversaturated? Bad economy? No one is going to Jazz Fest?

There are lots of mixed opinions among fellow rental owners right now, and I’m not sure which, if not all, are true. I just know that I’m REALLY glad I started the NESTinNOLA site this spring, because I need it, and I think other owners will need it, too.

It’s time to grow the Mid-Term Rental niche, and I’m proud to host the only LOCAL platform that allows list-by-owner, with realtor help.

If you’re an owner, I’d love to hear your thoughts on our changing rental landscape in NOLA, and I welcome you to post your comments in the owner forum for a longer discussion.

For our visitors – thanks for your interest in our community of mid-term properties here. We are all experienced hosts who would love to have you enjoy the city like it’s your own home – and we can help you stay a bit longer now, save some Airbnb fees, and live like a local in New Orleans!

Anne Beck, Realtor & NESTinNOLA Creator