The short version
- These guests need a furnished place fast, usually for 30 nights or more, and they rarely search a booking platform first.
- Their attorney, mediator or realtor is the one who knows they need a place, so those are your marketing channel.
- For stays of 30 nights or more, use a written agreement signed before move-in. In some states that also changes the lodging tax.
- One well-looked-after guest can lead to the next one, and to a partner who keeps sending.
Who these guests are
A person who has agreed, or been told, to move out. They have a job, often children, and a court date or a mediation session on the calendar. They need somewhere to live for weeks or months while the house, the money and the schedule get settled.
A hotel is too small and too expensive for a month. A 12-month lease is too long when nobody knows yet where they'll end up. A furnished home by the month sits right between the two.
Where they come from
These guests rarely start on a booking platform. The first person who hears “I have to move out” is usually a professional:
- Family and divorce attorneys, and the paralegals who take the first call.
- Mediators, who are in the room when the couple agrees who moves.
- Realtors, when the house is being sold as part of the settlement.
- Therapists and counselors, who hear it before anyone else but can only pass on a name.
Those four are your marketing channel. The exact words to use with each are in the referral partner scripts guide.
What they need at each stage
Every guest moves through the same seven stages. Here's what those stages look like for a guest in transition, and what you do at each one.
| Stage | Where the guest is | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | Hasn't heard of you. Their attorney, mediator or a friend is the one who knows they need a place. | Be known by the people they already trust: attorneys, mediators, realtors, therapists. |
| Consideration | Comparing a hotel, a friend's couch and a 12-month lease they don't want. | One page that says who the place is for, what a month includes and how fast they can move in. |
| Booking | Needs to move in within days, often with a child's schedule to work around. | A reply the same day, a written 30-day agreement and a clear move-in time. |
| Pre-arrival | Stressed and short on time. | Door code, parking, Wi-Fi and the nearest grocery store in one message. Nothing they have to ask for. |
| Stay | Working, parenting on alternate weeks, maybe meeting a lawyer. | A quiet check-in after the first few days. Room for kids to stay over. Fast fixes. |
| Post-stay | Moving into their next home, or needing another month. | Offer the extension early. Ask how the stay went and thank the partner who sent them. |
| Advocacy | Knows someone else going through the same thing. | A simple way to pass your name on, and a thank-you when they do. |
Notice where the work sits. Most of it happens before the guest books and after they check out, which are the two places a booking platform does the least.
The 30-night paperwork
A stay of 30 nights or more is often treated differently from a short stay, both by city rules and by tax rules. The details depend on your state and city, so check them yourself. As one example, Minnesota's Department of Revenue says a stay of 30 days or more is only free of lodging sales tax when:
- there is an enforceable written agreement signed on or before the first day,
- it includes a termination clause requiring at least 30 days' notice from either party, and
- it has a date and both parties' signatures.
A guest who stays five weeks without that agreement is still taxed as a short stay. Get the agreement signed before you hand over the door code.
Turning one stay into the next
A guest in transition who was well looked after tells two groups of people: others going through the same thing, and the professional who sent them. Both are worth more than any listing.
- Offer the extension early. Two weeks before the end date, ask whether they need another month. Settlements take longer than people plan for.
- Thank the partner the day the guest moves in, and again when they leave happy.
- Make passing your name on easy: a short note they can forward, or a page that explains your place.
Book Them Twice runs those steps for every guest and records which partner sent each one, so a single good stay becomes the start of a referral line instead of a one-off.
Before you start: nothing here is legal or tax advice. Check your city's rules and your state's tax rules, and have a lawyer review your 30-day agreement.
Questions hosts ask
Is this only for divorce?
No. The same guests include people separating without divorce, someone leaving a difficult home, a family between a sale and a closing, and anyone whose home is being repaired. This guide focuses on divorce and separation, so most of the partners it names are family-law contacts.
Do I need special furniture?
Think about kids. A second bedroom, or a sofa bed plus a desk, lets a parent keep their weeks with their children. A proper work desk matters too, because most of these guests are still working.
Should I advertise as divorce housing?
Use care. Most guests don't want the word on a listing or a receipt. Partners can say it; your page can say “transition housing” or “furnished homes by the month”.
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.
Sources
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.