Furnished or unfurnished vacation rental?

[Mark Masiel]

Assuming you were buying a vacation rental house (3b SFR), how much of a premium would you pay to get an already furnished property? I will be purchasing from overseas so it seems like an easier solution plus the low interest rates we have could make the extra cost less of an issue. Or are there "vacation rental furnishing packages" that are reasonable and make more financial sense? Looking in SW Florida. Thanks in advance to all experienced vacation rental operators!

[Karin Crompton]

@Mark Masiel, @Karen Margrave makes some great points. The only thing I would add is to remember that, should you buy a property furnished, none of that will count toward an appraisal of the property. So if you're using a bank or lender of any kind, they'll only loan you an amount based on the property, not the furnishings. So be prepared to have cash ready (unless you buy it so low and with enough equity that your loan would cover everything anyway).

*I should add that this is how it works for single-family purchases. If anyone understands differently for vacation rentals or other properties, please correct me.