Rentability : Furnished units vs unfurnished units?

Hello,

What type of units/homes usually rent faster : fully furnished units, partially furnished units or unfurnished ones ?

Cheers,

 

Depends on the location. In Sydney, a furnished - even part furnished - flat close to the city will rent quickly. Further out, not so much. More work to manage, though, even if it's not on the short term market. Local property managers tend to not be keen on them.

 

Unfurnished units/houses are better, tenants look after their belongings better than other peoples belongings.
Having managed furnished units I can tell you its a pain the in butt to have to count plates/knives and forks etc and replace those missing. A final inspection can take a couple of hours ...

 

I agree that it depends on location. And only bother with furnished if your furnishings are of a reasonable standard. I’ve come across some furnished rentals that have very old and cheap looking furniture that expect people to pay a big premium for rent. They often sit on the market for a while.

 

We are staying away from furnished apartments as they are a different target demographic (generally more suited to short stays), a lot more hassles to manage, and different parts of the legislation apply. Having said that, a company that specialises on this kind of rentals has approached me to trial an apartment we are managing in Sydney CBD that may be coming available soon. They don't like properties that are further out. They claim to have over 500 properties in their books that they furnished (at their costs) and now manage. Their target market is transient business and corporate people. In essence they will furnish it, find the tenants and manage it. They said they would advertise on stayz and airbnbn as a short stay rental. They claim to achieve a 15-17% yield! I am sceptical but the owner of this particular property is the type of person that may like something like this... so whilst I don't personally like it as it is risky, I an keeping my options open.

 

Location is the main factor. Melbourne suburbs, not so much. CBD is a different story, but attracts student accommodation, shorter term stays from business.