Should I let out a property furnished or unfurnished?

geek84

Good Morning Folks
I am in the process of buying my first buy to let property. Obviously, it would have no furniture or any type of storage units. Before letting it out to tenants, should I put some in some sort of furniture such as beds, settees, chairs, small cabinets etc.?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Guest101

It depends entirely on who you plan to let to.

Students: yes put in beds, desks, white goods, kitchen furniture etc.

Family: I would say no - maybe a white goods, but be prepared to put them in storage for the right tenants.

Young professionals: White Goods and kitchen furniture are usually expected. BUt beds and sofas etc, not.

Bare in mind you will be responsible for repairs of white goods etc if they break (unless the tenants have damaged them)

Werdnal

When I initially started letting 13 years ago, I was told that you get very little difference in rent from furnished versus unfurnished, abd you also have to constantly update, repair, clean and maintain the things to supply through wear and tear and tenant damage and misuse.

I have therefore always let unfurnished, and never had a problem getting tenants.

You also have to ensure everything is up to current fire regs and make sure you inventory every item every time you start and end a let - complicates matters, adds to costs and hassle etc.

Others may have different views, but its always worked unfurnished for me.

notanewuser

I've done both in the past. Furnishing a house you haven't/won't ever live in yourself an result in all sorts of strange choices.

I furnished another rented house myself (white goods were included). When I left I sold the landlady my furniture!!

Callie22

We have always rented unfurnished. We'd rather not be responsible for the landlord's furniture and it's cheap enough to get what you need either secondhand or from IKEA. However, I would expect there to be things like curtain poles, and it's a bonus if there are few shelves in sensible places and a fitted wardrobe - wardrobes are a pain to move.

We have our own white goods and again would prefer to rent without. We've bought decent quality appliances and I wouldn't want to get rid of them. Most of the white goods in rented places tend to be old and/or poor quality and are more trouble than they're worth, and tbh I'd prefer to minimise the need for contact with the LL/LA. We're happy just to sort that kind of stuff out ourselves.

abailey54

I would definitely say unfurnished...you're never going to want to spend the amount of money that other people spend on furniture for themselves. I've been quite disappointed recently with the number of really nice places up for rent, but with really horrible old furniture. Of course if it's student digs then that's a different matter

ajayre

Our Landlord is running some kind of tax scam. Basically he puts in the house one rug, one table and one washing machine and calls it furnished to HMRC but unfurnished to tenants. It wasn't disclosed to us before we agreed to rent and so we have to "store" his stuff in our limited space...

Andy

geek84

Good Morning Folks


Thanks very much for your replies.