Housing options for travelers

Oftentimes one of the most difficult aspects of being a medical traveler is finding affordable temporary housing. Many of us opt for the full housing stipend in our weekly paycheck to secure our own hotel, apartment, house, or RV spot near our assignment location.

It can be difficult to find a nice, furnished place to stay that will allow monthly or 3-month leases; however there are plenty of resources to help with the search. Websites like Furnished Finders, Craigslist, and Harvest Host (for those with RVs) are useful for finding affordable housing; however, be mindful of misleading listings and potential scams. Some travelers may ask their interviewing manager if they know of any housing options or if coworkers have rooms for rent.

Platforms like AirBnB and VRBO may cost a bit more, but you get the protection of booking your stay with a trusted and vetted host. You might even be able to contact the host from these websites privately to see if the rates are negotiable outside of using the rental platform.

Another option for housing is having the agency find it for you. This is assumed to be easier, but it comes at a huge cost. If your agency secures your housing, they are entitled to your entire housing stipend to cover the charge. This can amount to several thousand dollars per month out of your pocket.

All of these are viable options, but can be stressful and time consuming if you are busy with other aspects of traveling to and from an assignment.

There is now a new option for travelers to find and secure housing. A company called Operation Short Term acts as a third-party agent to help find housing for you. When you have a contract location, you can submit your housing requirements, budget, distance from the facility, and any additional requests for your ideal short term rental. Their professional team will quickly match you with up to 10 potential rentals that fit your requests, negotiate the rates for you and get you in contact with the renters. Currently Operation Short Term is providing this timesaving service to for only $49.

We reached out to Operation Short Term to get a better idea of what motivated them to take on our housing issues. Here's what they said:

Q: Tell us about your company, and what kind of services you provide to your fellow travelers.

A: I'm a traveling Histotechnician/Medical Laboratory Technician. I travel with my fiancé who works remotely. We have gotten very good at finding ourselves short term housing while on assignments. We know what to look for, the right questions to ask, and how to find the best fit for ourselves as well as the clients that come to us looking for housing. The best part is we are great at negotiating rent prices. We can find entire houses, apartments, shared spaces, extended stay hotels, or even RV sites.

Q: Why should Travelers use your service?

A: The biggest thing here is saving time. Looking for places to live can be very time consuming between searching and calling landlords, especially when you're finishing up the contract you're currently in, as well as figuring out other aspects of your upcoming move. For example, we used to hire someone to cut our grass when we owned a house. We had a lawnmower, but we lacked the time to do it ourselves. We give our clients their time back.

Q: Do you help find housing for anyone, anywhere across the entire USA?

A: Yes! Our main clientele is traveling healthcare workers, but we can help anyone looking for short term housing. For example, construction workers, business consultants, and many other professions travel for work and need short term housing. We can help finding housing in all 50 states.

Q: What happens if you are unable to find housing within the customer's requirements (budget, size, accepting of pets, distance from facility, etc.)

A: If we have done everything we can to find housing, and still have zero options to provide within their requirements, we will issue a full refund. Q: Once you've found housing for the customer, do you also submit the application for them?

A: No, once speak with the landlords about availability, price, pets, etc. we then provide their contact information to our client to get in touch with the landlord. Any applications, deposits, or lease agreements will be handled between the client and landlord. We will let the client know if there is any application to be submitted.

Q: How much do you typically save your customers through negotiating rates?

A: On average between $100-$200/month. Q: Tell us about a success story you've had with one of your clients.

A: Just this week we had a traveling nurse named Aubrey come to us with a request in a rural part of Arizona. Housing was scarce. She was traveling with her husband and cat. She really wanted a dedicated kitchen, so an extended stay hotel may not have been the best option for them. We found a house that was listed as no pets allowed and $100 over her budget. We called the landlord and explained that housing was scarce and Aubrey

really needed a place to live for her contract. We asked them to consider allowing her cat and lowering the rent to fit Aubrey's budget. The landlord asked if they could get some references from Aubrey's previous landlord to know that her cat was well behaved and didn't cause any damage to the property. Once Aubrey received an outstanding reference, the landlord agreed to accept her cat and lower the rent by $100/month. See her review!

Q: What motivated you to start this company and provide these services to your fellow travelers?

A: We’ve enjoyed every aspect of traveling so much that we wanted to provide something that would help other travelers have a smooth, stress free experience with each assignment they travel to. One of the biggest complaints we see from travelers is how time consuming and frustrating it can be to find short term housing or a place to park their RV.

It can take several days of calling and messaging to find a place that’s a good fit for you. We know this struggle all too well, especially since we needed more space, and a landlord that would be willing to allow 2 big dogs. It wasn't always the easiest feat, however we grew to enjoy it. We know what to look for, the right questions to ask, and best of all how to negotiate! We want everyone to love traveling as much as we do, so if we could take the housing hassle from anyone who finds it stressful, we would be thrilled to help!

We encourage anyone and everyone who has thought about taking a traveling position to DO IT! This has been the best years of our life and we have never felt more free. We’re still young but this job can be for anyone with a passion for travel and adventure. We encourage you to reach out to us with your questions about the travel lifestyle, and to check out our website Operation Short Term if you’re interested in our help solving your housing problems!