furnished or unfurnished

[Larry T.]

Does anyone offer their units furnished? Is there a set percentage that you could add to the rent of an unfurnished unit for this service? (of having it furnished) Is it more trouble than its worth or a good way to add income, if you have access to sturdy used furnoture? Any thoughts would be much appreciated, thanks!

[Account Closed]

Originally posted by "manna":

Does anyone offer their units furnished? Is there a set percentage that you could add to the rent of an unfurnished unit for this service? (of having it furnished) Is it more trouble than its worth or a good way to add income, if you have access to sturdy used furniture? Any thoughts would be much appreciated, thanks!

It is common in the UK for historic reasons. Being a landlord in both countries I have directly compared the two. I concluded it is a really bad idea to rent furnished except for fringe markets (corporate rentals, vacation properties).

Some simple examples of the negatives.

Lots of inventory to manage and evaluate when changing tenants. Lots more things that break, go missing, get confused with tenant owned items.

Tax impact. You need multiple depreciation schedule. Not too hard but more work.

Assets that go down in value and need frequent replacement. Most people buy RE for appreciation and cash flow. No personal item in a rental will appreciation and it will tie up more cash.

In the US most people will have their own stuff and expect unfurnished. They will want your items removed. Or they might

Or they do not like you taste. Why complicate things. They need to like your home plus the rent. Then you add in your stuff and they have more things that they might not like.

There are furniture rental companies that will supply most anything you need if you really need to furnish a place. They can even contract direct with the that you never have to deal with the stuff.

John Corey