buy to let furnishings / white goods

chrishar

If you are a buy to let landlord, is it best to have a furnished or unfurnished property?

I am thinking it might be easier to have it unfurnished as you wont have the costs of replacing anything. Does this mean you charge less rent? Would you have less people interested?

If white goods were left in the property, would the landlord be responsible for replacing them or could he say use them but they wont be replaced once they go wrong? Can you rent out a house with nothing in, not even a washing machine for example?

ihatemyhouse

am sure a house has to have a cooker in it

dimbo61

This depends on your market!!!!
Students do not have beds,wardrobes,washing machines etc so expect that they will be provided.
If you are renting a 4 bed house then the tenants may have all there own stuff

Building_Surveyor

ihatemyhouse wrote: »

am sure a house has to have a cooker in it

Nonsense! Houses are let all the time without any white goods. When i previously rented non of the houses had any white goods and I was perfectly fine with that.

Of course if you go for a new build with all the mod cons integrated then than that's expected.

I personally wouldn't want a microwave fridge or washing machine that wasn't my own.

bxboards

Where I am (Cumbria) it's definitely best to be unfurnished. About the only thing I'd provide is a cooker.

Generally I'd expect a cooker to be installed, and nowadays these need to be hardwired, so it would be unlikely a renter would provide their own.

G_M

Depends on your target market for tenants.

An option is to be flexible: Provide the basics (cooker, w/machine, fridge) and offer to provide more if a tenant wants. For the right long-term tenant it is worth it (you could offer furnished at a higher rent too), but some tenants will actually decline a furnished property as they don't want to have to store their own stuff.

Kynthia

Talk to a local letting agent as they know the area and who you are likely to attract. Sometimes the decision to furnish is based on the type of property you have to let as well as the target market. A small one bed flat is more likely to be rented by first timers who don't really own furniture whereas the family market have their own stuff. You do get to claim the 10% wear and tear allowance if you furnish but in some areas they believe that a tenant who provides their own furniture is more likely to look after a property and have pride in it. Often it doesn't make a difference in the rent you charge but makes the place more attractive to your target market.

Halle71

We've just let a house to a family that is pretty much unfurnished (needed fridge freezer, spare bed and a couple of rugs). We were ad used to wait until we found tenants and ask what they wanted.
We found it easier:
It would have taken a lot of time and money to fill a 4 bed house
You don't have to get the electics tested (PAT) for any additional white goods.
May not need contents insurance as buildings insurance covers fitted kitchens and bathrooms.
Can't claim wear and tear allowance but this makes tax affairs easier