Do you know what the second most stressful thing about travel nursing is?

It’s finding housing.

The first is picking an agency to work with.

So, to help you through this task, I have created this guide to help you find travel nurse housing.

As a career travel nurse who travels with her two cats, I’ve experienced the highs and lows of finding suitable accommodations in various cities.

Not to mention the difficulties that come with finding short-term furnished housing that also accepts cats.

This guide is packed with tips, advice, and resources to help you find rentals for traveling nurses that are both affordable and comfortable.

TL;DR

• Post-Pandemic Changes:
  • The surge in travel nurse numbers post-2020.
  • Increase in short-term furnished housing options as property owners adapt.
• Finding the Right Housing:
  • Importance of location, price, and amenities (e.g., furnished, parking, pet-friendly).
  • Consider utilities, lease terms, and privacy.
• When to Start Looking:
  • Recommend starting the housing search after signing a new contract to avoid financial risks.
• Maximizing Housing Stipend:
  • Rent should not exceed one week’s pay.
  • Utilize the stipend effectively within budget constraints.
• Top 5 Housing Websites:
  • Furnished Finder, Zillow, Apartments.com, Home Stay, and VRBO are listed with pros and cons.
• Safety and Security:
  • Suggestions for ensuring the rental is safe and the landlord is reputable.
  • Recommends a walkthrough and trust in instincts.
• Moving In Tips:
  • Advises moving in all belongings immediately.
  • Suggests hiring help for moving items, especially in buildings without elevators.

How to Choose Travel Nurse Housing

Finding a furnished, short-term rental (and in my case, one that accepts cats), in a safe neighborhood, that is quiet, yet still close to amenities is not easy, to say the least.

Let’s discuss some of the basics you should look for in your housing hunt.

Now, this part is very subjective and highly depends on what your preferences are.

I, for example, prefer a place with nicer amenities, a good housing design, and a place that’s close to shopping, bars, and restaurants.

But, I am also willing to pay a higher price.

Others are just looking for a place to lay their head and want to keep it as cheap as possible.

Here are the basics to keep in mind when on the hunt for travel nurse housing:

• Location
• Price
• Fully furnished 
• Assigned parking
• Stairs?
• What floor (if an apartment)
• Lease terms (in case your contract gets canceled)
• Privacy (the landlord will not have access to your space unless arranged ahead of time)

Some extra things to consider:

• Do they allow pets? (A lot of places will only allow dogs and not cats)
• Is there a washer/dryer?
• Closet space?
• Dishwasher?
• Is there storage?
• Are utilities included in the rent?
• Can you receive mail there? (I once lived in a place with NO mailbox)
• Is it required that you get the place professionally cleaned before you move out?
• Will you have to take care of the lawn/yard?
• Is it a safe neighborhood?
• What does the commute to work look like?
• Are you close to town? 
• Is there cable?
• Is there a Keurig? Air fryer?
• Will you have full access to the property? Are any areas off-limits/locked?
• Is there a possibility to extend the lease in case you extend your contract?

When To Start Your Housing Hunt

I highly suggest that you do not begin to seriously look for housing until you have signed your new contract.

You do not want to sign a lease for a house thinking you have the job “in the bag” only to find out you don’t and now you owe thousands of dollars to the landlord.

So, after you have signed the contract, the fun part begins. I LOVE THIS PART. I am also very good at finding housing. So let’s dive in.

Starting Your Search Using Hoodmaps

The first step is to do a quick search to see which areas of the city/town are good/you should avoid.

First, I do a quick Reddit search and type “city, state + neighborhood map Reddit”. You can usually get a good feel of the areas to avoid and find areas/amenities that you want to be near (dog park, hiking, bars, etc.). 

If you want to see a funnier, although informative map, try out Hoodmaps and you will get something like this:

You can check out the Hoodmaps website and then enter your city and state. (They don’t seem to have a homepage, so this will take you to the Lisbon neighborhood map).

The Role of Housing Stipends

The general rule of thumb is that your rent should be no more than one week’s pay.

And I don’t mean just the stipend amount for that week, but the whole take-home check for that week. I will often go a few hundred over, so I use it as more of a guide when setting my search parameters for my rental. 

Housing can be very expensive, and usually, the super nice places are expensive, so decide what your budget limit is and make sacrifices where you need to.

For example, if you are in a big city, there will probably be amazing high-rise apartments for rent, but maybe there is no parking included. After a long, shitty shift, you won’t want to have to park 3 blocks away and leave your car where you can’t see it.

But, maybe there is a not-as-nice apartment, but still decent, and it includes covered parking. In my book, that would be the clear winner.

How to maximize your housing stipend

Your housing stipend is a set amount determined by the government depending on where you live.

You can go to GSA.gov, scroll down to “Per Diem Lookup”, and select a year, state, and town and it will show you exactly how much the government will pay you each day for lodging, and meals & incidentals.

Keep in mind these are daily rates, so you will multiply each of these two rates by 7, and then add them up to see what you will receive each week, untaxed. 

You should be getting the maximum amount each week included in your paycheck, tax-free.

So before you sign your contract, make sure these numbers add up and are maxed out. If they aren’t, call your recruiter and they should fix it. If they aren’t maxed out, this means your recruiter is pocketing whatever you aren’t getting, and that is not okay.

Finding the Best Housing Options

There are a lot of housing websites out there specifically for short-term furnished rentals. I will discuss some of my favorites and the pros and cons of each.

The Top 5 Best Websites For Travel Nurse Housing

Here are my top 5 favorite websites for finding housing for travel nurses. These are also ranked in order of most to least favorite.

1. Furnished Finder:

This is always my first place to look to get a feel for the market and to actually make sure there is adequate housing in the area. See my article where I compare Furnished Finder Vs. AirBnB.

2. Zillow

An unlikely second choice, but I have found some legit gems here.

3. Apartments.com

Tons of listings — not all good. Better for cities.

4. Home Stay

A great option if you’re looking to rent a room.

5. VRBO

Vacation rental houses

Making Sure The Place Exists

Whichever site you choose to go with, just make sure that the property actually exists.

The way I do this is by having the owner or landlord do a Facetime walk-through. I will also look up the address on an MLS site (like Zillow) see the home when it was for sale and look at pictures to make sure it looks similar to what the ad is showing.

And always trust your gut. If you’re getting the feeling that things feel slimy, the landlord is creepy, or they are trying way too hard to get you to sign and send them money, then it’s probably a scam.

I have never run into this, but there are plenty of horror stories on the internet.

Safety and Security Considerations

Ensuring a Safe and Comfortable Stay

Now that you are at the new place and have gotten the keys, go ahead and take a look around.

Does anything seem off?

By this I mean, and not to sound too paranoid, but are there any personal cameras inside the house? Legally, outside cameras that point away from the property are allowed, but nothing in the backyard (the front yard is ok if pointing to the street), and nothing pointing towards the house.

And now that you have also met the landlord, do they seem like a normal person?

Are they giving off a creepy vibe?

If they hand you the keys, give a quick tour, and leave, then that is a good sign. If they linger or offer to help you unpack, or, god forbid, ask if you’re hungry, then a red alarm should be going off in your head.

If this happens, make sure to set clear, firm, but still professional boundaries with them.

Travel nurse housing is different from renting a regular place. It’s furnished, we are basically renting out the furniture, linens, kitchen supplies, etc. We need to make sure to treat things with care while at the same time feeling comfortable in our new digs.

We are also sort of lucky — travel nurses have a certain reputation for being good renters.

Every single place I have stayed at the landlord always says, “I love renting to travel nurses. They’re always so clean and take care of the place”. We work our asses off and people respect us. Let’s keep this reputation going — even if you aren’t the cleanest at home.

Moving In

I highly suggest moving everything in from your car the day you get there. I know it’s a pain in the ass, but you’ll feel SO much better knowing that your whole life isn’t sitting outside, waiting for someone to potentially break in and steal everything.

If you live in an apartment where there are lots of stairs and no elevator, do what I do and place an ad on Facebook Marketplace a couple of days before you arrive and say you’ll pay $50 for someone to unload your car and bring everything upstairs for you.

It was the best $50 I ever spent.

You will also want to take stock of anything the place doesn’t have that you will need to purchase. Things like a strainer, measuring cups, a whisk, and a pan. Whatever you know you will use.

Go down to Marshalls or TJ Maxx and shop your little heart out.

And because you read my travel nurse essentials post, you knew exactly what to bring with you to your new place.

Other amenities to look For

I like to check out where my newest grocery store, Trader Joe’s, gym, and gas station are. Just to have a sense of where things are in case you ever need something really quick.

If you have pets, definitely make sure to see where the nearest animal hospital and vet are — just to be on the safe side — and save it in your phone. Goddess forbid anything happens, but you don’t want to be scrambling if it does.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this travel nurse housing guide has been helpful to you! I have searched and searched, and I don’t believe there is anything like this out there on the interwebs.

And if you have any questions or anything I didn’t cover, please write a comment or reach out and I would be happy to address it.

FAQ