SabbaticalHomes

SabbaticalHomes review

SabbaticalHomes is an educator-focused rental platform that helps academics (and others) list their homes — or spare rooms — for rent, swap, share, or a housesit. Tenants can also list here to find people willing to provide accommodations for a set price.

What sets the site apart is its low fees — just $60 for academics to list a house. (The fee is $85, if you’re not an educator, current or retired.) If you find a match, both homeowner and tenant pay $50. Given that most listings on the site are for extended stays — a month or more — this fee structure is likely to save both homeowners and tenants a small fortune over other rental platforms.

Consider, for instance, an educator who lists their home for rent for $4,000 a month for a three month stretch. If they found a tenant for that period through Airbnb, the homeowner would pay $360 in Airbnb commissions and the tenant would pay at least $1,680 to the site. With SabbaticalHomes, the homeowner pays $110-$125 — more than $200 less. And the tenant pays $50, a savings of at least $1,600.

Because of the site’s educator focus, you’re also likely to find like-minded guests.

What we like

This is a smart niche market. Sabbaticals are common in academia. And, given that they can last from a few months to a year, they present unique housing challenges. By connecting academics, you allow people with common interests — often common employers — solve their housing challenges with similarly-situated educators.

Educators, who are listing their homes, are encouraged to mention what schools are nearby. That allows potential tenants to seek housing nearest the school they’ll be attending or working with. It also creates another common point of interest between potential tenants and landlords.

The fact that this works well is noted in the site’s “testimonial” section. And, where SideHusl.com normally ignores a site’s own testimonials, since they’re usually impossible to verify, this site is different. Why? It includes the full name and, often, school affiliation of the person providing the testimonial, making it possible to verify the testimonial and ask about problems.

What we don’t like

The site doesn’t collect rent for you, nor does it check references. Trust scores are about engagement on the site, which is helpful but far short of a background check. That said, because of the educator focus, homeowners and tenants have the ability to check references in familiar settings and, often, through common acquaintances. And, while you’ll need to collect rent yourself, you also won’t pay a processing fee on every rent check, as you would elsewhere.

Recommendations

If you’re an educator considering a sabbatical and looking for a rental — or renter — this is our top pick. Educator or not, it’s also a great place to look for a longer-term rental if you’re planning to spend several months away from home. For potential tenants, other good sites to consider are House Sitters of America, Nomador , Trusted Housesitters and HouseCarers. All of these house sitting sites aim to connect you with rent-free accommodations in exchange for caring for pets and/or gardens.

If you want a simple rental, Airbnb and VRBO are also worth a look.

What their users say: (from TripAdvisor)

I think people are confusing somewhere like sabbatical homes with short term holiday lets. Sabbatical homes are for those awkward lengths of rentals like three to six months. So prices are different than for short term lets. Also I really do not think illegal council lets apply. As I said a couple of people have successfully used them in France. Often academics accepting an overseas appointment for a semester and so being able to cover the costs of their main home helps.

From the Better Business Bureau

Simply put, we are delighted with SabbaticalHomes.com. It is so much easier to use than many of the other platforms and, best of all, we have found wonderful tenants, always considerate and co-operative. We promote this site all the time and I’m sure that our visitors do as well.