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Short-Term Rental or Long-Term Rental: What’s the Best Fit?

Happy Family Walking into Suburban Home with For Rent Sign in YardRenting a new home in Laguna Beach implies making any crucial decisions. Most likely among the most imperative of these is choosing between a short-term or a long-term rental. Given the fact that each renter’s circumstances are different, there is no one valid answer. However, it’s essential to give consideration and thought to both the specifics, including the pros and cons, of each nature of the rental lease and then choose the one that is the best fit for you.

Pros and Cons of a Short-Term Rental

A short-term rental is customarily specified as a rental with a lease agreement of six months or less. One normally common short-term rental is a month-to-month agreement, in which the contract renews every month. But in fact, there are numerous kinds of short-term rentals, even some with terms that happen weekly. For renters who need to have a lot of flexibility, a short-term lease can be ideal. They typically allow you to stay only a short while or move out quickly, should your circumstances change. There is indeed a higher chance that a short-term rental will involve things like internet service and utilities, though such amenities will be different in every location.

But be aware that there are some issues with short-term leases, also. Considering your lease renews quite often, this gives a chance to your landlord to raise the rent, update their policies or lease terms, and other things more often. Short-term rentals, additionally, oftentimes have a tendency to be somewhat expensive compared to long-term rentals, particularly if they are in parts where short-term rentals are in high demand. If you live in a popular vacation area or college town, you might deal with significantly more competition for short-term rentals than long-term rentals, which will often drive the rates for short-term rentals up.

Pros and Cons of A Short-Term Rental

You can definitely keep away from the troubles of a short-term rental by deciding to go with a long-term rental. And there are a lot of benefits to doing this. The most common lease length for long-term rentals is one year, but for some areas, leases can be for multiple years at a time. As a renter, the long-term rental can grant more stability in your rental rates and lease terms. If you’ve signed a long-term lease, the terms of that lease oftentimes don’t change for a long time. In many situations, the landlord won’t be able to raise your rent or make reforms to the agreement until it’s time to renew. Long-term rentals are regularly more affordable than short-term rentals exactly because it is more cost-effective for a landlord to lease their property for years at a time.

But having said that, long-term leases can have various issues as well. At any moment you’ve signed a long-term lease, it can then be very difficult and expensive to break it. The terms will indeed vary, although it is normal for landlords to require an extra month’s rent plus forfeiture of the security deposit if you need to end your lease early. That can make relocating to a new rental home very hard. It can moreover keep you from lowering your housing costs, should you need to do so. It’s likewise necessary to be aware that a lot of long-term rentals will not offer extra services, or sometimes, even appliances. This insinuates that you must prepare to bear the cost of utilities, internet, and necessary furnishings, in many cases.

When you completely understand all of the intricacies of both short-term and long-term rentals, it’s time to think of your situation and the foreseeable future carefully. If your objectives include staying in one location for quite a while, a long-term rental may be the best fit. But instead, if you are unclear where the forthcoming few months or even years might take you, a short-term rental could be the more sensible option. Whichever way, you can make your selection really easy by being aware of your options.

Real Property Management Agile offers a variety of rentals that might be a perfect fit for you. Call us today at 949-503-5300 or check out our rental listings for more information.

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