You landed the assignment. Now you just need somewhere to live for the next 13 weeks that doesn’t eat your entire paycheck. While that’s the goal, it’s not always so easy. Housing costs have risen throughout the country.
Housing is easily the biggest expense you’ll deal with on assignment, especially if you’re looking for a furnished place without signing a year-long lease. The good news is that your travel nurse housing stipend can help cover those costs and a little planning can help you make that money go further.
Here’s what to know before you start sending deposits to strangers on the internet—more on that later.
Understand Your Travel Nurse Housing Stipend First
Before you decide what you can afford, make sure you understand your pay package.
At Triage, travelers usually receive a housing stipend and find their own accommodations. While we can help you with housing, we find most travelers want the ability to pick their own accommodations. After all, you’ll be living there for 13 weeks. It makes sense that you want to see it in person.
Your housing stipend is intended to help cover the cost of maintaining housing while you’re away from your tax home. There’s an important catch here: a travel nurse housing stipend isn’t automatically tax-free just because the words “housing stipend” appear in your contract. Your eligibility depends on your individual tax situation, including whether you maintain a tax home and incur qualifying expenses while working away from it. The IRS also distinguishes between temporary and indefinite work assignments when determining whether you’re considered to be traveling away from your tax home.
Translation: talk to a qualified tax professional about your specific situation. Your recruiter knows staffing. Your accountant knows taxes. Everybody stays in their lane and everybody’s happier.
Set Your Housing Budget Before You Start Looking
The full amount of your stipend doesn’t need to become your rent budget. Look at what short-term rentals actually cost around your facility and start there. Triage recommends considering the total cost of an assignment, including the expenses you’re still maintaining at home.
When comparing housing, look beyond the advertised rent. Your real monthly cost could also include:
- Utilities
- Wi-Fi
- Parking
- Pet fees or deposits
- Application or screening fees
- Laundry
- Transportation to and from the facility
That $1,500 apartment 35 minutes from work might not be such a bargain once you factor in gas and parking. On the other hand, paying a little more to live close enough to walk could save money elsewhere. But remember to consider your time and the apartment’s amenities. If you don’t have laundry facilities, do you really want to schlub your laundry to and from a laundromat each week after working your shifts? Your time is valuable too.
Do the whole math. Not just the fun part of the math.
Look for Furnished Monthly Rentals
Do you want to move a couch across the country every 13 weeks? No? Then furnished housing is what you’re looking for.
Platforms that specialize in monthly rentals can be especially useful for healthcare travelers. Furnished Finder, for example, offers furnished rentals of 30 days or longer and lets travelers search by location, dates and budget. Travelers communicate directly with landlords about availability, lease terms and payment.
Traditional vacation-rental platforms can also have monthly options. Compare the final price rather than the nightly rate, since fees can change what looked like a great deal.
Whatever platform you use, make sure the lease dates line up with your assignment and understand the cancellation policy before paying.
Consider Renting a Room Instead of a Whole Place
Privacy is nice. Saving hundreds of dollars a month is also pretty nice.
If your priority is stretching your travel nurse housing stipend, renting a private room can cost considerably less than renting an entire apartment or house. Furnished Finder specifically identifies renting a room as one potential way healthcare travelers can reduce housing expenses.
A shared house can also give you access to things you might otherwise pay extra for, such as a kitchen, laundry or parking.
Of course, roommates aren’t for everyone. After a 12-hour shift, discovering someone ate the leftovers you’ve been thinking about since 2 p.m. can feel personal.
Know yourself.
Ask About Extended-Stay Rates
Hotels aren’t always the first place travelers think of when they hear “affordable housing,” but extended-stay properties can be worth pricing out.
Instead of relying on the standard nightly rate you see online, contact the property directly and ask whether it offers weekly or monthly rates. It’s also worth asking whether there are discounts available for healthcare professionals or longer stays.
Then compare the total cost with an apartment. A hotel that includes utilities, Wi-Fi, furniture and housekeeping may be more competitive than it initially appears.
Expand Your Search Radius—Within Reason
Housing right next to a hospital can come with a convenience premium.
If the options closest to your facility are outside your budget, expand your search by a few miles and see what happens. Triage notes that travelers can sometimes find less expensive housing farther from their facility, though it depends on the market.
Just don’t get so focused on cheap rent that you accidentally sign yourself up for a miserable commute.
Before committing, map the drive during the hours you’ll actually be commuting. A 15-mile drive at noon and a 15-mile drive during rush hour are two very different experiences.
Ask Other Travelers
Travel healthcare has a pretty useful unofficial housing network: other travelers.
Ask coworkers where they’re staying. Check travel healthcare housing groups and see whether someone finishing an assignment needs another traveler to take over a room or lease. Your recruiter may also be able to point you toward housing resources or help with the search. Triage recruiters can assist travelers who want help finding housing rather than handling everything themselves.
Just remember that a recommendation isn’t a replacement for doing your homework.
Don’t Let a Cheap Rental Turn Into an Expensive Scam
Finding a furnished apartment for half the going rate feels like winning the housing lottery.
Sometimes it means you found an amazing deal.
Sometimes it means there is no apartment.
Be cautious if someone pressures you to send money immediately, won’t provide a lease or can’t answer basic questions about the property. Verify the property and landlord when possible and use secure, traceable payment methods.
If something feels weird, walking away is cheaper than finding out why it felt weird.
Read the Lease With Your Assignment in Mind
Travel assignments aren’t traditional jobs and your lease shouldn’t pretend they are.
Before signing, understand what happens if your start date changes or your contract ends earlier than expected. Look at the required notice period, cancellation terms and deposit rules. If you’re considering an extension, find out whether staying longer is possible and whether the rent would change.
A flexible lease might cost slightly more than the cheapest option available. That flexibility can be worth paying for when your work schedule isn’t guaranteed for the next 12 months.
Make Your Travel Nurse Housing Stipend Work for You
There’s no single “best” travel nurse housing option.
One traveler might happily rent a room and put more of their pay package toward other priorities. Someone else might decide that having a quiet apartment five minutes from the hospital is worth spending more.
That’s the point of having options.
Understand your travel nurse housing stipend, research the market before accepting an assignment and compare the total cost of each housing option rather than rent alone. Most importantly, choose a place where you can actually live comfortably for the length of your contract.
After all, you’ll spend enough time under fluorescent lights at work. Your temporary home should at least be somewhere you’re happy to come back to.
Looking for your next travel assignment? Check out Triage’s available travel nurse and allied healthcare jobs and talk with a recruiter about your pay package, housing options and what to expect before you hit the road.