Furnished Single Family Rentals?

Question

Would like to get some thoughts on furnished single family rentals.

From other Q&A here, I have gotten the impression that some value add is probabally going to be required to find anything that I can reliably cash flow from the start. One way to do this (at least in my mind) is through furnishing.

I am planning on a house hack setup to start with, furnishing the rented room for hopefully a small boost in rental income. But when I convert to a full single family rental I am likely to have the place essentially furnished, and I am wondering what the market looks like for furnished single family homes versus unfurnished?

Those that I have seen are usually advertised as short term rentals at considerably elevated rents, but how long are people interested in renting a furnished house like that versus having a blank slate?

Also, what does property management look like for something like this, assuming I am not around to handle it myself?

Drew Sygit · Answer

@Charles Clark it depends on your market.

What will attract people looking for an alternative to a hotel?

Alexander Szikla · Answer

Furnished rentals are great if you can find your niche (i.e. travelling nurses).

Think about the drivers of your local economy and who might have the best needs to a medium term furnished rental

Mike Eichler · Answer

Oh, I'm totally for furnished SFH rentals, In Philadelphia the current state of regulations potentially being implemented for STR, the management company I work closely with has started converting some of our STR to month- to- month furnished rentals and have been seeing some great success with it, its also ice because of the premium you can charge for offering it, and surprisingly people want it to come furnished. A lot of travel nurses, flight attendants, and other remote workers that only come for shorter to medium periods of time want the flexibility to come and leave as quickly as they can.

Hope this helps let me know if you have any further questions.

Live Free,

Mike

Nathan Gesner · Answer

In my market, renting a furnished, single-family home doesn't add enough value to make it worth the effort/cost. Most long-term renters have their own furnishings and don't want the responsibility of using yours. Or maybe they won't have the same tastes.

Joshua Messinger · Answer

Hey @Charles Clark!

If you are going to be purchasing a single-family home as a rental I would recommend being extremely conservative when running your numbers. This way then you will guarantee for what you can and can't make and will always be ready for the worst to happen.

Otherwise, I am a leasing manager for MTRs and LTRs and furnished homes can rent for an astonishing amount more than just a regular single-family home without furnishings. Not only that, but they will target a different demographic entirely then marketing without furnishings allowing you to charge a higher rate than a stand long-term figure.

Please feel free to reach out if you ever need anything and I hope this helps out!

-

Josh