First Experience with Furnished Finder - Nashville, TN

Thus far I have only used Airbnb and VRBO (only once) to book my rentals. With fees and taxes the rentals are expensive adding at least $300 to the monthly rental. I decided to try another platform FurnishedFinder.com. Originally, it was created to offer rentals to traveling nurses. It offers longer term rental with no fees to the platform. The only fees that are paid are cleaning fees to the landlord (if any), deposit and pet deposit. Every listing as every landlord is different. I found some that have non-refundable deposits and others that offer a refund when you move out. I contacted a few, but without luck - they either don't respond (70%), don't rent to non-nursing humans (20%). This one did reply when I sent an inquiry back in October. I spoke with the owner on the phone, liked the person and the description of the rental (pictures are provided on the website) and agreed to do a background check. $40 and an hour later I got an approval from the landlord. It was odd that my rental was secure that easily, so I was doubting. No deposit was asked ahead of time. A month later when I arrived to Pulaski, I went to Nashville to meet with the owners in person. I liked the location and the house, and most importantly it seemed a legitimate listing with real owners. A non-official rental agreement was signed, initially for just February and March, but ultimately extended to January and April.

The move in date was moved to December 26th. I arrived at the house in moderate snow event (it's been a while since I have driven in the snowy conditions!) and paid the rent via Venmo (I already transferred the deposits and cleaning fee a month before). The owners left with their dogs to Texas and the house was mine!

The house is located in a lower middle class area about 20 minutes from the downtown. The neighborhood has train tracks right in the middle of it with trains passing through (with loud horns!) regularly during the day and at night. It is pretty quiet and safe. I can easily walk on the neighborhood streets at night without a fear of getting robbed. The neighborhood does not have great grocery stores like Trade Joe's or Whole Foods, but had a Kroger, Aldi and Walmart - much more than I could ever hope for in most of my previous rentals. There are two Planet Fitness locations, each about 10 minutes from the house. I have a nice deck - picture below was taken on the day I moved in - and a use of one bedroom, living room, dining room and a kitchen. The remaining two bedrooms are locked by the owners. 

Dinning room table

Dining room and kitchen

Main bathroom

Living room with non-functional fireplace

TV in the living room

Older, but fully functional kitchen

Bedroom

Half-bathroom from the bedroom

The moment we moved in, Kitty felt at ease - there was room for walking around and even running around! 

The house comes with an alarm system that made me a bit scared in the beginning. The owners told me that 7 years ago they had someone break in the house through the back door. They should not even have told me that because for 3 nights I was a bit on edge. Soon enough I got used to the house and really felt like I was home, this time for 4 months!