Furnished Finder

Furnished Finder review

Furnished Finder is a rental platform that specializes in connecting traveling nurses with mid-term ( 30 – 120-day) rentals.  Because the site is laser-focused on a niche market, it doesn’t need millions of users to make it effective.

How it works

Property owners are invited to list their rental, including all of the amenities of the property. These would include furnishings, linens, televisions, cable, WiFi, kitchen set-up/access, and whether the home accepts pets. You also post copious photos and the site will drop a pin in the geographic area where you listing is located. (Your address will not be shown.)

You can list a room in a house or an entire unit. And, since the bulk of this site’s renters are doctors, nurses and other health professionals, it’s worth paying particular attention to your site’s proximity to health care facilities. Your chance of finding a renter here is far greater if you are within a 15-minute drive of one or more major health care facilities.

Costs and pay

You set your own rates and determine the rules of the rental, including whether you allow smoking, pets and parties.

There is a $99 annual listing fee, which auto-renews. However, outside of that, there are no other costs.

Neither tenants nor landlords are expected to pay a portion of the rental costs to the platform. This can make this far less expensive than Airbnb, which charges both landlords and tenants a percentage of the rental amount.

Positives

The site partners with a company called KeyCheck, which does a free screening of your tenants background, credit history and eviction reports. This is a nice first step in checking out potential renters. However, it’s important to do a thorough background check of any and every tenant when your rental is in a tenant-friendly state, such as California. In these states, it can be exceptionally time consuming and costly to evict. So, screen as if your rental income depends on it, because it does.

Additionally, the site checks out homeowners, too. That should provide some comfort to potential tenants.

Cautions

Furnished Finder gets a fraction of the web traffic as better-established rental sites, such as Airbnb. So you are less likely to get a lot of inquiries here. On the other hand, if you’re within spitting distance of a number of medical centers, this site may help you manage rentals in that niche.

Moreover, this site is not collecting rent for you. That’s something you do yourself. If you have trouble collecting rent, the site disclaims any responsibility. And, although the site attempts to verify renter identities, etc., it does not guarantee its background checks. It’s wise to ask for an ID, and a copy of the renter’s employment contract, before accepting a renter.

Consumers also complain that the site is glitchy and it may be difficult to list a rental. And there are no refunds, even if you move within months of listing a rental. You cannot transfer your listing to your new home. To list a rental in a new property, you pay another annual fee.

Mixed reviews

Homeowners give the site highly mixed reviews, with some raving about being able to find back-to-back trouble-free tenants — and others saying the site is a complete waste of time and money. (See “what their users say” below) Travel nurses also complain that landlords are bad about updating the availability of their rentals on this site. That results in much frustration when listings that appear to be available are not.

Recommendations

If you are close to multiple health care facilities, we think this site is worth considering. However, other sites may be a better bet if your rental isn’t in the shade of a hospital. Other good options include SabbaticalHomes, which specializes in traveling educators, and Airbnb.

What their users say (from TrustPilot)

Terrible experience with furnished finder. I was hesitant to list my home on this platform as I live in a small town with only one hospital, which is why I asked customer service for stats within a 10 mile radius in my area. They would only give me 20 mile radius stats. I now know why, one of California’s largest hospitals is 20 miles from my town, which is why I repeatedly asked for a 10 mile radius. I paid for the subscription anyways and listed my home. It has been months with not ONE inquiry. Thats not what I’m upset about, I’m upset that when I go to list another property, I have to pay ANOTHER subscription for that separate home AND I cannot delete the existing home that has not gotten a single bite and add the new home. Ridiculous rip off.

I currently have a home listed. Every time I get a bite, the apps do
Not work properly. Again today I have someone waiting on a lease and there is another error. I paid $49 for 6 contracts. I am going to have to draft my own to email to people. IT does not called back. I have sent 3 requests today.

Terrible customer service harass constantly to get you to sign up then are silent afterwards. No support. Not one referral. Waste of time and money. I’m asking for a refund, no response.

Great experience

I’ve had a great experience with Furnished Finder. Before a person joins they should go on their site and actually see which units near them that have rented and for how much. If you can’t be competitive there would be no reason to join. I get a lot of inquires from other trades but I only rent to traveling nurses. I traveled working construction for years and saw a lot of crazy tenants. FF offers background checks for a fee but the traveling nurse agencies are reguired to do one when they sign someone on. I require to see a contract with a medical facility and a picture ID. My unit has only been vacant for a week at a time.

4/4/2023