New York City has strict short-term rental and Airbnb regulations that ensure leasing hosts share their homes responsibly and maintain affordability throughout the five boroughs, as mentioned in our previous article on finding a short term rental furnished apartment in New York City.

For New York City, a short-term rental is a rental that takes place for more than 30 consecutive days, with the city’s regulations focused on ensuring that short-term rentals are about hosts sharing their home with guests rather than using multiple properties as unlicensed hotels.

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Short term rental services (and one aggregate site), which help even the most wayfaring users find an interim home:

Apt212

As the name implies, Apt212 focuses mostly on the Midtown and Downtown Manhattan market. Apt212 started as a brokerage in 2010 and they now specialize in matching renters with short term rentals. Their listings include room for rent in shared apartments along with private units in luxury buildings.

As mentioned on their website, no credit checks are required, but the renter does need to submit a background check — as is a practice across most agencies.

Apt212’s 13th floor 1BD1BR situated between Midtown and the Upper West Side — listed at $6,000

THE COSTS:

  • Besides a one time $100 application fee, Apt212 charges a service fee for each lease based on a percentage of the reservation subtotal before taxes, similar to a brokerage fee.
  • Hosts are also charged a service to cover the charges of processing payments and apartment maintenance.
  • A security deposit equal to the first month’s rent is also required at booking which is held by the landlord.
  • Additional costs included in the base rental include cable and wifi at $140 extra per month, electricity is also extra and based on usage.
  • Some landlords also require a monthly cleaning charge to keep apartments in good shape at an additional charge, as well as a one time move out cleaning charge — which is deductible from the security deposit.
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Blueground

Calling themselves a “real-estate tech company”, Blueground rents new or renovated short term rental units from private owners and then takes over everything that comes in later. This includes everything from setting up the place with the help of their own design teams to handling the lease and maintenance. Their listings are predominantly in Midtown and Downtown Manhattan, plus Dumbo and Williamsburg in Brooklyn and Long Island City in Queens. Also, most of their listings are pet friendly!

Their digital-first approach to business is also easy to maneuver through their proprietary app that also allows seamless transactions!

Blueground’s 1BD1BR located in Hell’s Kitchen, New York listed at $2,470.

THE COSTS:

  • Their buildings with elevators that were also pet friendly, turned out to be in the price range of $4,500 to over $7,000 per month, plus an additional $250 for utilities (and taxes for less than 3-month leases).
  • Paying the entire term upfront will gain you a small discount (so $4,700/month upfront, down from $4,841 over two installments).

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Furnished Quarters

Furnished Quarters is known to have worked with a diverse clientele and is the master leaseholder of the luxury properties in its portfolios, in conjunction with the various landlords. It also has its own design team that ensures the furnishing of the unit along with signature wallpapers, sheets, towels, etc. They mostly rent out their own buildings that are mostly brownstones and townhouses.

Furnished Quarters 1 Bedroom listed at $195/Day in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighbourhood.

THE COSTS:

  • One bedroom furnished apartments in New York as of January of 2021 average $300-$500 per day, or $9000 to $15,000 each month as per the minimum 30-day stay requirement — much in line with what most high-end services cost.
  • The base rental includes wifi, utilities, bi-monthly housekeeping, and maintenance: basically everything but city taxes.
  • There’s no first or last month rent or security deposit or any service fees for their short term rental units!
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Sonder

The most hotel-like service on this list, Sonder recently entered Manhattan neighborhoods.

Their locations include Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Nomad, and Sutton Place. This accommodation also comes with a bunch of rules: No smoking, no parties, and a 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. quiet time.

Their über-modern buildings offer eclectic, design-forward furnishings, amenities such as rooftop lounges and fitness facilities, and fully equipped kitchens. For the guests who know what they want, Sonder marries hotel services with the style of furnished apartment living in New York in the most stylish way.

Sonder’s “Vibrant 1BR” at Hell’s Kitchen listed at $156/Day

THE COSTS:

  • One bedroom furnished apartments in New York as of January of 2021 average $300-$500 per day, or $9000 to $15,000 each month as per the minimum 30-day stay requirement — much in line with what most high-end services cost.
  • There’s also a $500 security deposit for each stay and a $125 fee to cover the post-checkout cleaning.
  • Regular housekeeping can be arranged at an additional fee.

Here’s something extra we’d like our readers to know before they leave:

WHAT IS SHORT TERM RENTING IN A RENT STABILIZED BUILDING?

Rent-stabilized buildings have restrictions on what residents can legally charge on sites like Airbnb and Booking.com to prevent a disproportionate generation of income. A host can short-term rent a private room in a rent-stabilized building. But, they cannot charge more than the room’s proportional share of the rent.

Wondering what you should be looking for when using an apartment finding service? Here's all you need to know.

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