"14 Months was enough" - How Miklós switched from airbnb to long-term rental

Illustrative case, published with consent

Miklós is 39 and owns a flat in Újlipótváros he's genuinely fond of.
55 sqm, a large terrace, views across to Buda. He lived there himself
for years.

When he moved out, short term rental seemed obvious. The flat had exactly the
kind of extras short-term guests pay a premium for. The first months
were good.

After 14 months, he did the real accounting.

1. The neighbour problem

Constant turnover has a social cost. Unfamiliar faces in the hallway
every few days, irregular noise, a doorbell that rings at
unpredictable hours, the previously easy relationship with neighbours
quietly deteriorated. For Miklós, this wasn't a minor detail. The
value of the flat is partly tied to the building it sits in.

2. The maintenance reality

Short-term rental platforms offer little accountability when things
get damaged or worn down faster than expected. Miklós found that
maintenance and repair costs ran significantly higher than projected. Not catastrophic individually, but enough to steadily erode the
advantage of higher nightly rates.

3. The decision

The switch wasn't ideological. It was a calculation. Higher gross
revenue, minus platform fees, minus elevated maintenance, minus the
operational load of running what is effectively a small hospitality
business from your phone, the margin looked different.

ProLodge handled the repositioning of the flat for the long-term
market, the tenant search and screening, the contract, the deposit,
and the move-in inspection. Miklós was not required to manage a single
step of the process.

4. Now

The flat is occupied long-term. Stable monthly income. Predictable
costs. The neighbour situation has normalised. Miklós doesn't think
about the flat week to week.

"On paper I earn less than in the best airbnb months. In reality I
earn more: once you count everything I no longer have to pay for, and
everything I no longer have to do."