The short version
- Lease the unit from the owner for 3 to 5 years, with written permission to host guests.
- Ask for a rent-free start, up to 90 days, while you furnish and get the first bookings.
- Cash to start is usually furniture plus a deposit, not a down payment and closing costs.
- Check your city's rules, your insurance and the lease wording before you sign anything.
The idea in one paragraph
You sign a lease with a property owner, furnish the unit, and host guests in it, either short stays or 30-day furnished stays. The owner gets a steady tenant who looks after the place. You get a door without a mortgage. You earn the gap between what guests pay and what the rent and running costs come to. When that gap is thin or negative, you've made a bad deal, so the math comes first.
The terms to ask for
A 3-to-5-year lease
Furnishing a unit costs real money. A one-year lease gives you twelve months to earn it back and then the owner can raise the rent or take the unit away. Three to five years gives you time to earn back your setup and then some.
Up to 90 days rent-free
The first weeks go to furniture, photos, listings and the first few bookings. Asking the owner to waive rent while you set up is a normal request when you're signing a long lease. You may get 90 days, you may get 30, you may get none. Each free month comes straight off your cash to start.
Written permission to host
The lease has to say, in writing, that you may host short-term or 30-day guests. A verbal "sure, that's fine" won't protect you if the owner sells or changes their mind.
Buy vs lease calculator
The numbers below are an example, not a forecast. Change them to match a real property you're looking at.
With the example numbers, leasing needs less than a fifth of the cash buying does. The catch sits in the monthly line: if guest revenue drops, the rent is still due. Run the numbers again with revenue 25% lower. If the deal still works, it's worth a closer look.
What to check first
- Your city's rules. Many cities require a short-term rental permit, cap how many a building can have, or require the host to live on site. Some rules treat 30-day stays differently from short stays. Read the ordinance yourself or call the city.
- The lease wording. It must allow subletting or guest stays in plain words. Have a lawyer read it if the lease is long or the deal is large.
- Insurance. A normal renter's policy usually doesn't cover paying guests. Get a policy written for short-term or furnished rentals.
- The building. A condo or HOA may ban rentals even when the owner is willing.
- Your exit. Know what happens if you need to leave early, and what happens to your furniture.
Finding owners who'll say yes
The owners most likely to say yes are the ones tired of tenant turnover, vacancy or repairs nobody reports. You'll have a lot of conversations to get one signed lease, so the follow-up is where most people lose.
Book Them Twice's first level, Fund Your First, has a landlord pipeline for this: every owner you talk to, the property, the rent they're asking, where the conversation stands, and follow-up that keeps going until you get a yes or a no.
Before you sign: nothing on this page is legal or tax advice. Results depend on your market, your property and how you run it.
Questions hosts ask
Is leasing a property to run as a rental legal?
It depends on your city and your lease. Many cities require a permit or limit short-term rentals, and many leases ban subletting. Get the owner's written permission and check your city's rules before you sign.
Why would an owner give me free months?
You're offering a long, steady lease and you're paying to furnish and maintain the place. A rent-free start while you set up is a common ask in that trade. Some owners say yes, some offer one month, some say no. Ask anyway.
Short-term or 30-day stays?
Either can work on a lease. Some hosts run one unit as a short-term rental and the other as 30-day furnished stays, which can also help where a city limits short-term permits.
Want us to look at your setup?
20 minutes on a call. We look at your PMS, your guests and your gaps, then tell you plainly whether Book Them Twice fits.
Book Them Twice is not affiliated with or endorsed by any company named on this page. Product names are trademarks of their owners. Nothing here is a promise of results; see our earnings disclaimer.