Mid-term rentals are surging in popularity as digital nomads use fully furnished, monthlong stays to try out living abroad.
While have been in the spotlight in recent years, a weeklong stay is rarely enough to capture the true sense of local life, especially in a foreign city.
For a growing cohort of Americans looking to "test drive" living abroad, mid-term rentals are filling the gap between a brief getaway and a permanent move.
"Moving to another country seems like such a big commitment, that this is a way to take the pressure off," says Alyssa La Spisa, a New York City-based influencer who recently spent a month in London living in an apartment managed by Blueground, a housing platform specializing in mid-term rentals. "I think it's a good way to have those life experiences without having to fully uproot your life."
La Spisa, who runs the lifestyle Instagram account The Recommendista and commands over 135,000 followers across her social media channels, partnered with Blueground to experience London as a local or an expatriate rather than a tourist, but without having to make a life-altering commitment.
"I called it my adult study abroad, where I wasn't in school, not studying, just working and living in another city and testing it out," La Spisa tells Realtor.com®.
The Instagram content creator had visited London many times before, but always as a typical traveler, dashing from one landmark to the next in a race against the clock. This time, she wanted her stay to be different.
"I wanted to feel what it was like to live there," she says.
La Spisa moved into to a fully furnished, turnkey two-bedroom in the upscale neighborhood of South Kensington. There, she took her time establishing daily routines, from finding her favourite local coffee shops and restaurants to mastering London's public transit system, and getting to know some of the locals without feeling in a rush.
The monthlong test drive left La Spisa eager to return.
"I was a little worried that after living there for a bit maybe the shine would wear off, but actually that wasn't the case. I'm still thinking about going back," she says, noting that in the future she hopes to split her time between New York and London.
Although La Spisa concedes that a month is "probably not enough" to lay the groundwork for a potential relocation—because 30 days is "still a bit of honeymoon phase"—she feels far better prepared than if she had never opted for the extended stay. Crucially, she now knows where she would put down roots.
"If I were to start looking to buy a flat one day, I feel like I would I know exactly where I would start," says La Spisa. "I loved Marylebone [neighborhood]. That would be really my ideal."
The mid-term rental platform Blueground offers fully managed and furnished apartments in countries around the globe. (Blueground Marketing) A service that caters to digital nomads
Alex Chatzieleftheriou, co-founder and CEO of Blueground, launched the company in 2013 with clients like La Spisa in mind: digital nomads, remote professionals, and travelers who want to get to know a faraway city far more deeply than a typical hotel stay would allow.
Blueground is part of a growing trend, with at least a half-dozen global platforms currently offering move-in ready, furnished rentals catering to corporate and remote workers. Other major players in the industry include Flatio, Homelike, and Altovita.
Speaking to Realtor.com®, Chatzieleftheriou explains that early in his career he worked as a consultant and lived in 15 cities around the world, staying in cookie-cutter hotels for months at a time. That experience led him to the realization that the global rental market lacked options for flexible, mid-range stays.
"We have a lot of solutions if you want to stay for a few days or weeks with the hotel, or if you want to move somewhere, you can rent an apartment for a year or more," says the CEO. "Everyone in between is kind of underserved."
Chatzieleftheriou says he has made it his life's work to create a pathway for globetrotters to explore new places, learn about new cultures, and build meaningful connections.
Today, Blueground directly operates over 20,000 furnished rental apartments in nearly 100 cities worldwide, supplemented with a network of curated third-party properties owned by institutional landlords who are invited to participate in the program.
Blueground operates over 20,000 move-in-ready rental properties like this one in London. (Blueground Marketing) How mid-term rentals operate
The platform’s business model focuses on mid-term stays typically ranging from one month to one year, with the average booking lasting roughly three months, offering occupants sufficient time to "date" a city before deciding to commit.
Monthly rates vary by market but are structured based on duration: the longer the stay, the lower the rate.
"We like it when people stay longer, obviously. It's good for them, they get a better rate, and we get a better occupancy, so it's kind of a win-win," explains the platform's co-founder.
Chatzieleftheriou notes that clients often switch properties within the same city just to experience living in different neighborhoods. Approximately a quarter of Blueground's clients book stays in multiple cities in a single year.
In one case, a filmmaker stayed in a Paris Blueground property for three months and loved the managed experience so much that when he decided to relocate to New York, he signed a 12-month lease on another Blueground unit instead of a traditional unfurnished rental.
According to the company's internal data, roughly 20% of guests in major European markets, such as London, Paris, and Marid, originate from the U.S.—a trend driven by the proliferation of remote work and flexible assignments that allow professionals to spend several months living abroad.
Blueground's CEO says that what elevates mid-range rentals above standard hotels or short-term options is the quality of life, offering more space, full kitchens, upgraded amenities, reliable support, and residential settings.
"I've always identified as the most important thing for Blueground is that you give people consistency [and let them] relax into a new environment," says Chatzieleftheriou.
For prospective buyers eyeing a permanent move, mid-term stays present a convenient and relatively low-risk entry point into overseas real estate markets, with approximately a dozen European countries currently offering residency- or citizenship-by-investment programs.
While the U.K. does not currently offer passive capital investor visas, wealthy Americans, including a growing roster of A-listers like Ellen DeGeneres, Tim Burton, and most recently Lena Dunham, have been moving across the Atlantic and purchasing homes.
La Spisa advises would-be expatriates to "test drive" a foreign city before committing to a move.
"Going there for a vacation and falling in love with it is very different than living there day to day," she concludes.