It's late October. Your Fremont two-bedroom did great on Airbnb all summer — $4,200 in July, easy. Now the calendar for January has exactly two bookings, both one-nighters, and you're doing the math on a mortgage payment with nothing coming in. Every Seattle STR owner knows this slide. Fewer know the move that fills it: 30+ night corporate stays, booked by people whose employers are paying, who don't care that it's raining, and who'd rather have your kitchen than a hotel room.
Corporate housing — furnished rentals of 30 nights or more for business travelers, relocating employees, and project-based workers — is the quiet backbone of Seattle's mid-term market. It's less glamorous than summer Airbnb rates and far more reliable than hoping for weekend tourists in February. And that 30-night line matters: stays that long generally fall outside Seattle's short-term rental operator license, and they're typically treated as residential tenancies for tax purposes — different product, different rules. (Confirm the specifics with your CPA; don't wing it.)
This is general education, not tax or legal advice. Washington's landlord-tenant rules (including deposit limits and entry-notice requirements) apply to mid-term stays — check the current RCW and talk to your attorney or CPA about your situation.
This is general education, not tax or legal advice. Talk to your CPA or attorney about your situation.
Why do Seattle landlords switch to corporate housing in winter?
Because Seattle's winter STR market is brutal, and Seattle corporate housing demand doesn't care about the weather. Consider the seasonal math on a typical two-bedroom:
- July–September (Airbnb): 75–85% occupancy at $200–250/night. Strong.
- November–February (Airbnb): 35–50% occupancy at $130–170/night. Thin.
- November–February (corporate housing): one tenant, 60–120 nights, effective $150–190/night with near-zero turnover cost.
A single 90-night corporate booking at $5,200/month beats a winter of scrambling for weekend guests — and you clean the place once instead of twenty times. At $150–250 per clean, twenty turnovers is $3,000–5,000 evaporating before you see a dollar of profit.
There's a rhythm to it, too. September brings the Microsoft and Amazon intern-to-full-time rotation and fall relocation wave — hiring managers approve housing budgets, and transferees need a place now. January brings project consultants and healthcare travelers. Demand peaks exactly when your Airbnb calendar is weakest. Our Seattle mid-term rentals guide for travel nurses and corporate housing maps the tenant types in detail.
Who actually rents corporate housing in Seattle for 30+ nights?
Relocating employees. The biggest segment. Someone accepted an offer at Amazon, Microsoft, or an Eastside tech firm and needs 60–90 days while house-hunting. Employers typically cover $3,500–6,000/month, and transferees book fast — often within a week of the offer. Redmond and Bellevue proximity commands a premium; our guide to Redmond tech tenants breaks down what this crowd expects.
Project consultants and contractors. Engineers on 3–6 month assignments, traveling executives. They want quiet, fast internet, a real desk, and in-unit laundry — and they won't bother you.
Healthcare travelers. Travel nurses on 13-week contracts at Swedish, UW Medicine, Virginia Mason. Furnished Finder is their home base — they work nights, sleep days, and leave the place spotless.
Interns and seasonal rotations. Every September, the intern conversion wave hits. New grads starting at Microsoft or Amazon need 30–60 days before their first paychecks make a long-term lease comfortable. Price-sensitive, but they book in volume and screen easily.
How much does Seattle corporate housing pay landlords?
Rule of thumb: 1.5x to 2x the unfurnished long-term rent, with a fraction of Airbnb's turnover work. Concrete numbers for Greater Seattle as of 2026:
| Unit | Typical LTR rent | Corporate housing monthly rate |
|---|---|---|
| Capitol Hill 1BR | $2,200–2,600 | $3,400–4,200 |
| Fremont/Ballard 2BR | $2,900–3,400 | $4,500–5,800 |
| Bellevue/Redmond 2BR | $3,200–3,800 | $5,000–6,500 |
| West Seattle 3BR house | $3,500–4,200 | $5,500–7,500 |
Rates assume genuinely furnished — a working kitchen, desk setup, quality bedding, fast wifi. Corporate tenants paying $5,000/month notice the difference between furnished and furnished, and the units at the top of these ranges feel like serviced apartments, not college sublets.
Pricing strategy matters more than most landlords expect. Relocation budgets are often capped ("up to $5,000/month"), so pricing at $4,950 beats $5,200 — you fit under the cap instead of getting filtered out. Always quote monthly, not nightly.
How do deposits work for Washington corporate rentals?
Washington caps security deposits at one month's rent (RCW 59.18.270). Not one month plus a "furnishing deposit" — one month, total. Hold it in a trust account, provide a written move-in condition checklist, and return it (or an itemized deduction statement) within 21 days of move-out. Miss the deadline and the tenant can sue for up to twice the deposit. Relocation companies know these rules. Don't test them.
Practical setup: one month's rent as deposit, first month's rent upfront, and a signed mid-term lease — stay dates, monthly rate, utility terms, house rules. Relocation firms often want to be the contracting party and pay by invoice; our corporate housing contract and billing guide covers that paperwork, and our Washington deposit guide has the full breakdown.
Deposit rules are legal requirements, not suggestions. This is general information — confirm your lease and deposit handling with a Washington landlord-tenant attorney before your first corporate booking.
Who pays utilities in Seattle corporate housing?
You do — then you build it into the rent. Corporate tenants expect an all-in monthly number; nobody relocating from Texas wants to set up a Seattle City Light account for 60 days.
The standard structure: quote a monthly rate that includes a utility allowance of $150–250/month (electricity, water/sewer/garbage, gas, and gigabit internet for a 1–2 bedroom), with usage above the allowance billed back to the tenant per the lease.
Two specifics: internet is infrastructure — remote workers leave over slow wifi the way vacationers leave over a dirty bathroom, so hardwire the desk area if you can. Our corporate housing internet readiness checklist covers the setup. And put the cap in writing — a verbal "utilities included" becomes a dispute when the bill spikes. Our utility cap guide has sample lease language.
Do you inspect the unit mid-stay?
Yes — every 30 days, with proper notice, and your lease should say so upfront. On Airbnb you see the unit at every turnover; a 90-day corporate stay is 90 days of not knowing what's happening in there. A slow leak. A "temporary" cat. A guest's guest who never left.
Washington law (RCW 59.18.150) requires at least 24 hours' written notice before entering, except in emergencies. Frame it as a service visit — "monthly filter check and touch-up clean" lands better than "landlord inspection." Check water under sinks and around the water heater, smoke/CO detectors, and general condition against your move-in checklist. Thirty minutes, once a month. The landlords who skip this discover problems at move-out, when it's too late to do anything but argue over the deposit.
Where do Seattle landlords find corporate tenants?
Three channels, in order of reliability:
Furnished Finder. The dedicated marketplace for 30+ night furnished rentals, and the first place travel nurses look. A flat annual fee, tenants message you directly, no platform cut of the rent. The tradeoff: you handle your own screening, leases, and payment collection.
Airbnb (with 30+ night settings). Your existing listing can pull corporate-length stays with a 30-night minimum and monthly discounts enabled. Fine as a supplementary channel; awkward as your only one, since Airbnb's tools are built for short stays, not tenancies.
Relocation management companies. The big relocation firms place transferees constantly and pay reliably, often by invoice on net-30 terms. Getting on their vendor lists takes effort — professional photos, a standardized lease, proof of insurance — but one relationship can fill your calendar for years. This is also where professional mid-term rental management earns its keep: those relationships already exist, and a single owner cold-calling relocation firms gets a fraction of the placement volume.
Start with Furnished Finder and your Airbnb listing in parallel. Add relocation-company relationships once you've got two or three corporate stays under your belt.
This is general education, not tax or legal advice. Talk to your CPA or attorney about your situation.
If you're staring at that thin winter calendar right now, the move is straightforward: furnish it properly, list it for 30+ night stays, and price against relocation budgets instead of nightly Airbnb comps. A free property assessment will tell you what your unit could pull as corporate housing — monthly rate, likely tenant type, and whether your winter gap is a pricing problem or a channel problem.
FAQ
How much can Seattle landlords earn from corporate housing?
Typically 1.5x to 2x the unfurnished long-term rent. A Fremont/Ballard two-bedroom at $2,900–3,400/month long-term can command $4,500–5,800/month furnished; Eastside two-bedrooms near Microsoft and Amazon run $5,000–6,500/month.
Do I need a lease for a 30-night corporate rental in Washington?
Yes. A 30+ night stay is a residential tenancy under Washington law. Use a written mid-term lease covering dates, monthly rate, deposit terms, utility allowance, and house rules — not just a platform booking confirmation.
How much security deposit can I charge for corporate housing in Washington?
One month's rent, maximum — total for all deposits combined (RCW 59.18.270). Hold it in a trust account, document the unit's condition at move-in, and return it or an itemized deduction statement within 21 days of move-out.
Who pays utilities in Seattle corporate housing?
The landlord, built into the monthly rate. Quote an all-in number with a written utility allowance ($150–250/month for a 1–2 bedroom), with overages billed back to the tenant per the lease.
How do Seattle landlords find corporate housing tenants?
Furnished Finder (the go-to for travel nurses), your Airbnb listing with a 30-night minimum, and relocation management companies that place transferees on invoice terms. Most successful landlords run at least two of the three.