WA Renting furnished property & mower

My property is a ten minute drive from the airport, 9k from city. My tenants are moving interstate and selling everything and offered for us to buy any of it including ride-on mower. What's your thoughts on buying the mower and including as part of the rent? 1570m2 block. 100m2 house.

I just started to wonder if worth renting for a higher price furnished and how much demand there would be? Is it worth the hassle? I just saw this advertised and started to wonder if worth doing in this climate. I'd love to increase cashflow but in this current environment I'm not too comfortable to build two more houses on the block.

Furnished Property (not near my property). https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-wa-padbury-432485158

 

I would say no to all - speaking as a former PM furnished houses are slower to rent, a pain to have to keep track of furniture/mowers etc [think inspection reports] and tenants are more inclined to look after their furniture which means your house will be better maintained ...

 

Maybe your son could buy the mower. You include mowing in rent. He gets money for drift tyres?

 

Second hand stuff is worth next to nothing. If you want it consider just offering to let them leave it and you won't charge them the cost of removal.

If you rent a place out furnished expect the stuff to get wrecked and you won't get disappointed.

I have enough trouble keeping my lawnmower in good working condition - let alone if somebody has treated it rough.

 

Yes the furniture would be like having another property to look after. I'm not sure about the mower. The property will be easy to rent in the current climate but was harder in the downturn. It takes a couple of hours to mow with a push mower - around $120 - $200 if I employ someone. I think I gave my first tenant our old mower and it lasted less than a year. Honkey Nuts are a bit harsh on push mowers.

 

Hmm, Can you drift on a ride-on mower? Lol. He already has piles of types from his race car.

 

As a property manager I would strongly recommend that you don’t rent out a suburban house fully furnished.

· Any items that you supply become your responsibility to repair or replace when something goes wrong e.g. the fridge stops working.

· The rental yield is not much higher for a furnished property.

· Management fees are higher as there has to be inventories done when tenants move in and out.

· Tenants who don’t own anything, tend to be transient, this leads to a high turnover and a corresponding increase in expenses.

The only exception to this are modern apartments in and around the CBD and Air B&B.

Having said that, if your property has features that need specialised equipment, such as a huge lawn, supplying a ride on would make that a desirable attribute.

 

Thanks, the mower would be worth a try. The last time I advertised it did put applicants off and concern them if they would have time to maintain it.

 

I wouldn't leave a mower the owner is responsible for maintaining it.
I might buy it, include mowing in rent but DIY the mowing.
For $120/200 I might become a lawn mower person

 

I can't think what segment a furnished place on a seemingly large property 9ks from the CBD would appeal to.

Furnished apartments in the city at least appeal to new migrants / temp work transfers, but as the norm in Australia is unfurnished property, the norm for tenants will be to have their own furniture who dont wish to then have to find storage for it.

You could buy the mower and offer to mow the lawns for the next tenant as that would appease anyone put off by such a large block (and allow you to keep an eye on things if you are so inclined).

 

I took a 65” LCD TV as some rent payment when I rented out rooms in my PPOR back in the day… still got and use that TV!

If you actually want the mower and it’s value equivalent price is worth it (i.e. discounted) then taking it in place of rent is a good idea IMO for a few reasons I won’t write about

As many have said above, there’s not much demand for fully furnished rentals and even then, you need to get a a decent premium for it otherwise it can end up costing you a lot as you need to maintain everything during the tenancy and things aren’t built to last like they used to, most stuff is replaceable and not simply or economically repairable, and Tenants never seem to look after things like you will, and of course, it will never be good enough lol

 

What if it ran out of fuel? You'd have to replace it

 

I’d take the lawn mower and use it to drive to and from the pub. Stick to the nature strips that way you can say you are cutting the lawn for the council for free. Even at 3 am during lockdown. Well that might be hard to explain.

 

I assume you've seen the video of the twits at the gold coast who rode one to the beach

 

Mower could be worth it, just incl in the lease "supplied mower to be maintained by tenant with annual manufacturer servicing" .

 

I would fear an Insurance nightmare if a ride on mower for tenants were supplied- Image if tenant or their kids careering round the property injured themselves- owner liable etc etc etc- The property obviously has somewhere weather proof to store the mower. You could make it secure( not accessible to tenant) & store it there. If you live close enough or can arrange for someone else to come in- include/add mowing into rent.

 

True, but supply a user manual and the liability should be no different to an oven.
Still in this day and age gassing yourself in the landlord's oven and surviving is grounds to lodge a money grab....

 

I have been thinking about my tenant types after reading everyone’s comments. Most of my previous tenants have moved to Perth from the country and enjoy outdoors. Most have been young childless couples with fur babies. They often build or buy their own homes once they have settled. There is a large shed on the property so storage is easy. My worst nightmare would be us having to mow it. We do occasionally with vacancy. I have a friend who does lawn mowing/maintenance business who lives ten minutes away so that could be a back up option also, I employ him sometimes between tenants. I’ve had three families with kids, only one lot would have been a worry.

 

Yes I’ll need to work out terms in lease, depending on applicants/demand.