Furnished V's Unfurnished

Wondering what peoples experiences have been with fully furnishing a property V's unfurnished.
Is it worth it?
More hassle?

 

Hassle, wear and tear. Owner is responsible for repairing / replacing stuff because it comes with the house.

Other issue is that attracts a slightly different demographic of tenant. Generally shorter term.

The upside is you can generally charge more rent. That will depend on what kinda property and where.

 

You need to research the demand for the area and the cost VS the extra return. I would have thought there would be more problems
BUT I bought a unit in Elizabeth Bay Sydney that used to be a boutique hotel. It was FULLY furnished (including tea towels, cutlery, everything). The tenant was already in so It thought I'll just leave her there and when she moves out rethink the furniture etc. She's been there nearly 10 years and has never asked for anything to be replaced. She thinks of it as her forever home. Lucky!!

 

Totally dependant on the market, what the norm for the area is and cost Vs benefit. That's the only way to make some intelligent determination imo.

 

It really depends on your property, the demographic of the area, your PM's attitude/ability and your own.

I remember 8 years ago I moved out from my townhouse and didnt want to take any furniture with me. The PM at the time, inexperienced Onsite Manager, seemed reluctant to manage a FF property. Also commented that it is a little old and outdated.
I managed to convince her that:

• the area and the Complex itself is predominantly catering for Uni students, overseas and locals (only a few bus-stops to Uni, walk to Coles and Bingo)
• overseas students tend to prefer FF rentals
• they are not too fuss about the age or looks of the furnitures.
• in the whole Complex, I was going to be the first one to offer FF rental
• we only live 2km away

Needles to say, eight years on we are still renting this FF units with mostly still the old furniture. I can proudly say so far we havent had much issues, touch wood! Granted there's more emails of phone calls for maintenance, but we dont mind it because we only live closeby, and it's a good opportunity to check on the property.

 

I would agree that it does depend on the area, but on a whole furnished properties are a far less popular concept than they used to be. Certainly, working primarily in the ring outside of Brisbane, I've never managed a property that I would have felt was better offered fully-furnished.