If you have spent any time calling apartment listings and asking whether they would do six months, you have probably started to feel like you are asking for something unreasonable.
You are most definitely not.
Maybe your job starts in January, your closing is in the spring, your contract runs thirteen weeks, or your renovation is supposed to take four months. Or, like many people, you are between two chapters of your life and genuinely do not know where you will be next June. None of that is a new circumstance or experience, but the standard twelve month lease was built for a kind of move that you are not making.
Late summer is when this gets hardest, because the annual lease cycle turns over around September and the market resets around people signing for a year. If you need less than that, this is when you find out how little the traditional system has for you.
What is a short term lease?
A "short term lease" is any rental agreement shorter than the standard twelve months. In practice that usually means three to nine months, with a fixed start and end date. You still sign a real lease and pay monthly rent, but the only thing that changes is the length of the commitment.
You will also hear these called flexible leases, temporary leases, or midterm rentals, and the naming is inconsistent because the category is outside of the traditional apartment industry, and is now just becoming recognized.
How long is a short term lease?
Most fall between three and nine months, with six months as the most common length. Below thirty days, and a stay stops behaving like a lease and starts behaving like a hotel booking, whereas anything above twelve months is just a regular lease.
Why most apartment buildings will not offer one
Understanding the reason here is genuinely useful, because it tells you where to spend your time instead.
Large apartment complexes are built around turnover cost. Every time a unit empties they pay for cleaning, repainting, marketing, and screening, and they carry the vacancy while it sits. Those costs land roughly the same whether the last renter stayed six months or two years, so spreading them across a longer tenancy is simply better math for them. On top of that, corporate leasing offices run on standardized lease documents and rigid approval systems, which means the person you are talking to often cannot say yes even when they would like to. If a leasing agent has sounded apologetic while turning you down, that's usually why.
An individual owner renting out one or two properties is in a completely different position. They are making a case-by-case decision rather than following a policy, and a well-screened renter for six months frequently beats an empty unit for two months while they hunt for someone who will sign a year. That difference is the most useful thing to know while you search, because it points you toward individually owned homes and condos and away from the big complexes that keep saying no.
How much extra does a short term lease cost?
Usually, it can cost more per month, and how much more depends on what you are measuring against.
Compared to an unfurnished annual lease in the same building, expect ten to thirty percent more per month. Some buildings apply an explicit short term premium as a line item, while others just quote a higher rate without breaking out why.
Compared to a furnished midterm rental, the math shifts, because that monthly number usually includes furniture, utilities, and internet. It looks more expensive on paper but often is not, once you account for what you would otherwise pay separately and for furnishing a place you are leaving in half a year.
Compared to an extended stay hotel, a short term lease almost always comes out ahead over a month or more. Nightly pricing does not scale across months, and you end up with a mini fridge instead of a kitchen.
The honest way to think about the premium is that you are paying for the option to leave, and whether that is worth it comes down to whether you would genuinely use a full year.
Where short term leases actually exist
The largest source is also the one most people overlook, which is individually owned rentals. Owners of single homes, condos, and small multi-family buildings set their own terms, and many would rather have a shorter, well-screened tenancy than a long vacancy. Midterm rental platforms are the other obvious place to look, since they are built for the one to twelve month range rather than being a longer-term site filtered down. Listings there are usually furnished with utilities included, which suits anyone not moving a full household.
It is also worth asking large buildings about month to month directly, even the ones that just told you no on six months. Plenty of complexes will not advertise a shorter lease but will convert an expiring one to month to month, and some will start you there for a premium. The answer varies by building and by how full they are, so a question costs you nothing.
Two other options come with real caveats. Sublets can work when someone needs to leave mid-lease and are often cheaper, but your agreement is with the original tenant rather than the owner, so you inherit whatever comes with that. Getting the landlord's written approval first protects you from the worst version of it. Corporate housing sits at the expensive end, professionally run and priced for companies rather than individuals, so it mostly makes sense when an employer is covering it.
Month to month versus a fixed short term lease
These two get used interchangeably, and the difference matters more than it sounds.
A month to month agreement renews automatically until one side gives notice, usually thirty days. That gives you maximum flexibility, and the tradeoff is that your landlord has exactly the same flexibility, so they can raise the rent or end the arrangement on that same short notice.
A fixed short term lease locks in a specific end date. You give up the ability to leave early, and in exchange you get a rate that cannot change and a place that cannot be taken back out from under you halfway through.
If your end date is genuinely unknown, month to month is the better fit. If you have a rough sense of when you are leaving, a fixed term protects you from a rent increase midway through, and that protection is usually worth more than the flexibility you traded for it.
What to look at before you sign
The most important thing to sort out is what happens if your plans change, in either direction. Ask what early termination costs, and ask whether you can extend, because a shifting timeline is a common thing that happens on a short stay. It is also worth pinning down what the monthly number includes, particularly utilities and internet, since a furnished all-in rate and a bare unfurnished rate are not comparable no matter how similar they look.
You should also expect a real screening process. A landlord committing to six months is making a much bigger decision than one renting out a weekend, so background and credit checks are standard, and it is easier to know that going in than to discover it halfway through an application. On MatchBook, that runs through MatchBook Renter Verification, an optional $25 check covering credit range, eviction history, and criminal history. It stays valid for three months and attaches to as many applications as you want, so you pay once rather than at every property you like.
If you are bringing a pet, sort that out early rather than late. It narrows the field more than any other single factor, and good options tend to go quickly.
Timing your search
Start six to eight weeks before you need the place. That is early enough to have real options and late enough that landlords are listing for your window, since most post about a month to six weeks ahead of availability.
Late summer into early fall is the busiest stretch of the year for rentals, which cuts both ways. Inventory is at its highest because the annual cycle is turning over, but so is competition. If your timeline has any give in it at all, searching in October or November means fewer listings and noticeably less pressure, usually at better prices.
A lease that matches your actual timeline
The thing worth holding onto is that you are not asking for a favor; you have a specific stretch of time that you need a comfortable stay for. Housing built for three, six, or nine months exists, it comes with a real lease behind it, and you no longer have to choose between signing away a year you do not want and paying by the night.
Need something between one and twelve months? Browse furnished and unfurnished homes on MatchBook, where every host and listing is reviewed, and lease signing and payments happen on-platform.
Own a rental and wondering whether a shorter term is worth it? Listing on MatchBook is free, with no commissions and no limit on listings, and the screening, e-lease, and scheduled payment tools work even for renters you found elsewhere.
Frequently asked questions
Do apartments do short term leases?
Large complexes usually will not, because they depend on spreading turnover costs across a long tenancy. Individual owners are far more flexible, which is where most short term leases actually come from.
What credit do I need for a short term lease?
Most landlords run the same background and credit check they would for an annual lease, since the commitment on their side is real either way.
Do short term leases require a bigger deposit?
Sometimes. Some landlords ask for more in exchange for the shorter term, and some states cap what they can collect regardless of lease length. Ask what the total move-in cost is, not just the monthly rent.
Can I get renters insurance for a short term lease?
Yes. Most policies are written month to month and do not require a twelve month lease underneath them, and many landlords will ask you to carry one anyway.
Can I extend a short term lease?
Often, but confirm it before you sign rather than after. Extension terms vary, and a contract or project running long is the most common thing that changes on a short stay.
What happens if I need to leave early?
That depends on your lease. Some allow early termination with thirty days notice, some charge a fee, and some hold you to the full term. It is the most important clause to read before signing.
How far in advance should I search?
Six to eight weeks. Most landlords list about a month to six weeks before a unit is available, so searching much earlier turns up thin inventory.