Thanks Bear.
Yeah, I had what is essentially a walk-out basement that had been used as a game room, with a pool table and pinball machine that nobody used. It's a hair over 400 sq ft.
I built out a nice bathroom and kitchenette. The bathroom has a big shower, and a big sinktop with nice cabinetry. Kitchen is Ikea stuff...12 or 13 cu. ft. fridge/freezer with ice maker, a microwave/convection combo, an induction hot plate, service for 4 in dishes and glassware, etc. Roomy countertop with a good-sized sink. I also installed a mini-split heat pump, so it's cool or toasty as the occupant wishes. It's got a separate driveway, so parking is about 5 feet from the private entrance (which is at a lower level than the rest of the house). It's pretty private, but not too isolated. It's got a nice patio with a cover, so we bought a bistro set and a grill for them to use. Our laundry room doubles as the pool bathroom, so it has it's own entrance, so laundry isn't an issue for the tenants. I offer them exclusive use of the laundry room on a day of their choosing, or, they can just merge with the rest of us and throw in a load when they need to. I hung a nice smart TV (and put our Netflix, amazon, and the rest on that TV for them), give them fast wifi, etc.
We furnished it with pretty high-grade stuff. A nice bed, cotton sheets, nice towels, etc. The GF decorated it "cute"* I put it on furnished finder for $1900/mo. Within a week, I got a cute nurse originally from Canada (with WA driver's license) that took a 120 day contract at one of the hospitals. She moved in and liked it well enough that she extended her contract. Their contracts are capped so they can't stay forever.
Anyway, she was cool as shit and we were sorry to see her go, but within a few days of re-listing, I got a nice gal from SAT. She worked the same hospital and stayed 6 months. After feedback from nurse 1, I upped the rent to 2,000. Like the first gal, when this one left, she wrote us a beautiful note and left us a gift basket.
So, I listed it again. This time, I got a call from a guy in his 20's. He's in the IBEW, and serving an apprenticeship at a local contractor. His family home is about 100 miles away. He came over, found the place perfect for him, and took it. He loves the fact that his truck is right outside the door (instead of in a motel parking lot), etc. He's been here 7 months or so. This stage of his apprenticeship ends in July, and he's really hoping to stay with this company for the next stage, or find another contractor in this area and continue to rent here. BTW, North San Diego is a fuckload nicer than where he's from, so I understand why he wants to stay. Truthfully, we like this young man as a tenant better than we liked the nurses. This guy leaves early and comes home late. He's 50 hrs/week minimum working, and gone a lot more than that. The nurses worked 3 12-hour shifts per week, and a lot of that was at night. Meaning, I didn't want to make a lot of noise during the day while they were sleeping. So, mower/weed whacker/chain saw time was restricted.
Of course, I told the nurses that they were free to use the pool at any time
All 3 of them are wonderful people, and both the nurses know that if they want to come back for a long weekend, they can have one of the spare bedrooms in the house for no charge.
I'm sure if and when "Mike" leaves I'll get another nurse, and that's fine with me.
r/travelnursing is a pretty good forum for finding out wants and needs.
I've found that the most important thing for the women is to feel safe. Both of the nurses mentioned how safe they felt in their goodbye notes.
* as to the "cute" decor, when Mike checked the place out, he said "yeah...I don't really need all these throw pillows...can you store these somewhere?". I knew right then I liked the guy.
Somewhere in this long post, I deleted the part about being within 10 miles of 3 big hospitals. Location is important.