How to Secure Your Off-Season Income With Long-Term Rental

Enzo Bortone · Unlocker co-founder, business developmentPublished on June 19, 2025 · Updated on September 26, 2026 · 2 min read

By adding a few long-term units to your portfolio, you lock in a base of fixed income all year long without giving up short-term rental. That’s the whole point of long-term rental management: it smooths your revenue, even in the off-season.

The off-season, an avoidable pit

Between October and March, bookings drop for most concierge companies. Units sit empty, costs keep running (fixed expenses, team, services), and owners get nervous. The real problem isn’t seasonality itself. It’s depending 100% on a model that only works six months a year.

Long-term rental, a complement to short-term rental

Many people still think long-term rental means giving up short-term rental. In reality, the two coexist just fine. By adding a few long-term units to your portfolio, you:

lock in a base of fixed income all year;
make better use of units that underperform in short-term rental;
retain owners who want peace of mind;
smooth out your workload (fewer turnovers);
make better use of your team during slow periods.

It’s a hybrid strategy, not a career change.

A concrete example of income smoothing

Take a concierge company with 15 units: 12 short-term, 3 long-term. In summer, 100% of the units are booked. In winter, the 3 long-term units cover your overhead while the rest runs at a slower pace. The result: no cash flow gap, no stress, no pressure on prices.

How to add long-term rental without changing your business

The real obstacle is often the carte G (the French property management license): offering long-term leases, collecting rent, and following up on late payments is in principle reserved for real estate agencies. With Unlocker’s carte G delegation, you can benefit from it without holding it yourself. Unlocker holds the carte G, and your concierge company keeps operating as usual, under your name, with your team.

When it makes sense for you

When you want to stabilize your annual income.
When you manage units in non-touristy areas.
When some owners prefer fixed rent to seasonal peaks.
When you want to make your concierge business more attractive to investors.

Long-term rental isn’t a step backward. It’s a solid foundation for building a lasting business, and a way to test the hybrid potential before rolling it out more widely.

Sources

Légifrance — Loi n° 70-9 du 2 janvier 1970 (loi Hoguet) — verified on September 28, 2026

AuthorEnzo Bortone

Enzo Bortone has been an Unlocker co-founder since June 2022 and leads business development. He first held several sales roles through work-study programs (sales engineer, sales manager). Today, he helps concierge companies with carte G delegation (the carte G being the French property management license) and split payment.

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