Short-term Stays
Here we’ll discuss stays of several weeks up to three months, again cost will be dependent on season. Once again we’ll look at options with prices in the beginning of January, as of 01/2025.
Rooming Houses
I don’t know anything about this place, but I often go by it and find it interesting. Around the corner from Food+Beer (mentioned often in this website) is The Downtowner, a sort of rooming house/vacation rental owned by Jonathan Sheintal. It is at 439 Kumquat Ct, but is more easily located at 1525 4th Street. There is no website.
Furnished Finder
Here’s a secret used by locum tenens doctors, nurses, physical therapists, etc. and airline pilots who work on short-term contracts usually of at least three months, but often they extend to six-months. Hospitals rely on retired professionals who like visiting new places to work for a few months. Of course, they don’t want to deal with furniture. FurnishedFinder.com grew to serve their needs.
In early January 2025 There were six options from $1400 (a bedroom only in a shared house) – $2150 (a 1 bed apartment over a two-car garage). All have taxes of 13%, and all minimum stays of one month (one three), but the problem was none were available to rent until March, and most not until April or May. This gets you some time in the Spring, which might be perfect for a month or even two. Interesting, five out of six were located in the Rosemary District, near our Mentone Ct condos described elsewhere on this website.
Taking a rental in May is really an “off-season” rental, of which tons are available for the summer until they revert to full price come late winter/early spring, for the snowbird season. So, the disadvantage of a short-term rental of one, three or even six-months is if you want to stay longer you’ll get bumped up to full in-season rates when the nice weather comes, or get bumped out altogether.
Off season rates are usually a third or a quarter of in-season rents. This website assumes people want to enjoy Sarasota in-season, or at least on the shoulder season, so we won’t address the many options to find off-season rentals. Just click on Zillow.com and search among the hundreds of rentals that they come up. The next section discusses longer-term stay options.
