What if your tenants paid for your wedding? Alex and Ashley bought their first home in Apple Valley, California with a plan built in: set up two rentable spaces, list them on Furnished Finder, and let the income do the work. Within 18 months, rental income paid off their construction loan. Now that same income is funding the backyard wedding they're throwing in May 2027.

In this episode of Landlord Diaries, we sit down with Alex and Ashley, night shift workers, first time homeowners, and first time landlords who turned an in-law suite and a converted RV garage into two private monthly rentals. They walk through how they financed the build, price unique spaces, share laundry with tenants without losing privacy, and how they screen for the right monthly midterm rental tenants.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• How to turn unconventional spaces into rentable units
• How to use a construction loan and rental income to fund home upgrades
• How to price monthly rentals using local comps and Market Insights
• How to screen midterm tenants for peace of mind at your primary residence
• Why midterm rentals are different from short term rentals for owner occupied properties

This one is for new landlords, house hackers, real estate investors weighing STR vs MTR, and anyone who wants rental income to fund the life they actually want, not just cover a mortgage. Alex and Ashley prove you don't need a massive portfolio to build financial freedom. Two well set up units on one property can pay off loans, fund weddings, and open the door to bigger goals.

List Your Property on Furnished Finder:

https://www.furnishedfinder.com/list-your-property

Use code LLD10 for $10 off new listings.

Timestamps:

0:00 Welcome to Landlord Diaries

0:35 How Furnished Finder is funding their wedding

1:50 Their portfolio: 2 rentals at their primary home

3:00 Tenant types: travel nurses and a college athlete

4:10 Why family and friends were skeptical at first

4:40 First time buyers with an investor mindset

5:55 Building private units with a construction loan

8:00 Sharing laundry with a weekly tenant schedule

9:40 Pricing unique rentals and studio units

13:25 The goal: upgrade the home, add income streams

15:10 Alex tells Daily Press "don't be afraid"

16:00 Katie: rental income means saying yes more often

17:35 Their rental process for peace of mind

20:40 STR vs MTR and typical midterm tenant types

21:50 How rentals made a backyard wedding possible

24:45 What's next in their real estate journey

27:20 Advice for landlords on the fence about MTR

29:30 Rapid Fire: surprises, best tenant, wedding advice

Alex & Ashley's Listings:

https://www.furnishedfinder.com/members/profile?id=75497b1-48f2-aee-a03-09d81e

Trending Monthly Midterm Rental Resources:

https://www.furnishedfinder.com/Resources/PMResources

Topics covered: midterm rentals, monthly rentals, Furnished Finder, house hacking, ADU rentals, RV garage conversion, in-law suite rental, travel nurse housing, construction loan strategy, first time landlord, room rental pricing, tenant screening, financial freedom through rentals, Apple Valley California real estate, side hustle for homeowners.

The Landlord Diaries is brought to you by Furnished Finder, where you can list your property for one low price and pay zero booking fees.

America has between 32 million and 130 million empty bedrooms sitting unused every single night. The housing shortage is estimated at just 1.8 to 7.5 million units. If you can do basic math, you already know what that means, and Atticus LeBlanc, founder and CEO of PadSplit, is here to break down exactly why room rentals are the fastest, most profitable way for landlords to close that gap.

In this episode, Atticus walks us through the exact room rental conversion that took his net operating income from $1,100 to $2,400 a month. He shares why the traditional buy, renovate, rent playbook does not pencil the way it used to, and why landlords looking for cash flow, financial freedom, or a way to make an underperforming property profitable again are turning to co-living.

Room Rental Inventory on Furnished Finder:
https://www.furnishedfinder.com/search/furnished-rooms

Check average room rental pricing in your markets:
https://www.furnishedfinder.com/stats

In this conversation you will learn:

• Why room rentals can deliver a 2X increase in net operating income compared to traditional single family rentals
• Where co-living demand is significantly outpacing supply in a variety of US markets
• Why PadSplit residents save an average of $317 a month, adding up to over $200 million in collective savings
• How the Furnished Finder and PadSplit partnership brought 1,000 room rentals across seven markets onto the platform
• The real story of Tiffany, a night shift security guard who saved $600 a month, bought her own car, and moved into her own apartment within six months
• What zoning, HOA restrictions, and Golden Girls bills mean for landlords considering the co-living model
• Why seasonality in room rentals looks nothing like the short term rental world, giving landlords steadier year round cash flow

Furnished Finder and PadSplit together offer over 95,000 room rentals nationwide, giving landlords and investors the largest combined footprint of monthly co-living inventory in the United States. Whether you are a mid-term rental landlord, a short-term rental host adjusting to new regulations, a long-term landlord looking for more cash flow, or a new investor exploring your first property, this episode gives you the data and the strategy to think about your next move differently.

List Your Property on Furnished Finder:

https://www.furnishedfinder.com/list-your-property

Use code LLD10 for $10 off new listings.

Timestamps

0:00 Welcome to Landlord Diaries
1:30 What is PadSplit and the problem it solves
3:20 The impact of room rentals on the housing shortage
4:30 Millions of US bedrooms sit empty every night
5:00 The barriers that block market rate apartments
7:35 Why co-living is a 4 sided win for communities
8:30 What landlords meet PadSplit brand standards
10:10 How room rentals move the needle on affordability
11:20 10,000+ affordable units created in Atlanta metro
12:25 Who is leasing and renting by the room
14:35 1/3 of US renters earn less than $35k a year
16:20 Why demand stays stable in every economy
18:45 The huge cash flow opportunity in room rentals
21:40 What NOI is and why it matters for landlords
23:40 Turning your dining room into a rentable bedroom
26:55 Top room rental markets and how to create supply
30:30 Why Furnished Finder and PadSplit partnered up
34:55 Remote workers can test cities for 3 to 4 months
36:40 A real underperforming property that transformed
37:45 Tiffany's story: from motel to her own apartment
39:10 Misconceptions landlords have about co-living
41:35 Do room rentals have a seasonality problem
44:10 Zoning and HOA restrictions to watch for
48:15 Golden Girls bills and the fight to change laws
49:20 The first step to take this week
50:15 Rapid fire: surprise markets and biggest mistakes

Meet your hosts Kelly Bailey & Katie Lyon, plus catch up on past episodes:
https://www.furnishedfinder.com/resources/podcast

Topics covered: mid-term rentals, room rentals, co-living, PadSplit, Furnished Finder, net operating income, real estate investing, housing shortage, affordable housing, cash flow strategy, landlord tools, monthly rentals

The Landlord Diaries is brought to you by Furnished Finder, where you can list your property for one low price and pay zero booking fees.

He found a mid-term rental listed at $3,500 a month and knew it was worth nearly double. After taking over management, that property was renting consistently for $6,500 to $7,000 a month. In this episode of Landlord Diaries, David Kamenetsky of DOMA Luxe Properties shares what it actually takes to turn a struggling monthly rental into a high performer. Most landlords assume the market is the problem when bookings slow down. The truth is the answer is almost always inside the operation: pricing, design, photography, tenant targeting, and how quickly you respond to leads. Today we break down exactly how to diagnose what is broken in an underperforming furnished rental and what to fix first.

If you are a real estate investor, a landlord trying to escape the grind of short term rentals, a long term landlord looking for more cash flow, or someone exploring passive income and financial freedom through monthly rentals, this episode gives you a real operator's playbook.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Why most underperforming rentals are an operations problem, not a market problem
• How to spot the gap between what your listing says and what the market will actually pay
• The three things to check first when bookings stall: design, photography, and pricing
• Why transparent pricing wins more tenants than hidden fees ever will
• The low cost upgrades that move occupancy the most
• The mindset shift that separates landlords who grow from landlords who stay stuck

Whether you have one rental that is not pulling its weight or you are setting up your first midterm rental and want to get it right from day one, this episode shows you what to actually look at and what to change.

Furnished Finder is the trusted platform for monthly midterm rentals, connecting landlords directly with vetted tenants searching for stays of 30 days or more. List Your Property on Furnished Finder today and use code LLD10 for $10 off new listings. https://www.furnishedfinder.com/list-your-property

Timestamps

0:00 Welcome to Landlord Diaries, the Monthly Rentals Podcast
1:05 How David spotted a real opportunity in the monthly rental space
2:10 What David learned as a house flipper & realtor that still pays off
3:20 Inside David's 50 property portfolio and what he manages today
4:20 The floor plan that quietly outperforms everything else
6:25 What David evaluates before taking on a new rental property
8:30 Why demand is not the problem and what to fix
11:00 Validate your market with Furnished Finder Market Insights
12:00 The $3,500 listing David doubled to $7,000 a month
14:20 Owners reaction to nearly doubling the rent
16:40 The 1st thing to check when a monthly rental is underperforming
20:25 What new landlords get wrong before they even list
23:15 How to set up a monthly rental the right way & what to avoid
25:20 Why mindset matters in this business and how David gives back
28:30 Rapid fire: dream property type, the amenity landlords underestimate, the low cost upgrade that moves the needle

Trending Monthly Midterm Rental Resources:

https://www.furnishedfinder.com/Resources/PMResources

David's Listings on Furnished Finder:
https://www.furnishedfinder.com/members/profile?id=1858c83-496c-ab2-98c-81fa46

Meet your hosts Kelly Bailey and Katie Lyon, plus catch up on past episodes:

https://www.furnishedfinder.com/resources/podcast

Topics covered: monthly rentals, midterm rentals, furnished rentals, property management, struggling rental turnaround, real estate investing, passive income, financial freedom, insurance housing, traveling medical professionals, relocation housing, landlord tips, Furnished Finder

The Landlord Diaries is brought to you by Furnished Finder, where you can list your property for one low price and pay zero booking fees.