Advice on furnishing a Rental Property

jishi

I have a property that I wish to rent out. It has three bedrooms and is in a decent area in London.
The house has not been refurbished in 10 years.
I would appreciate advice on the level I should do it to so I don't break the bank but I get a good yield, maybe not the maximum I could get if I put top end appliances etc
I am looking for advice on how carpets, furniture like sofas and beds.
Any advice would be much appreciated as I am new to this.

Thanks

00ec25

jishi wrote: »

It has three bedrooms and is in a decent area in London.

that is not enough to go on - who is your target market...
- students to whom you let the property either as a whole or by room
- "families" with or without children
- benefit claimants or people able to pass a full credit check
- young professional singles looking for a house share
- young professional singles looking for a (large) place of their own
- people looking for short term accommodation whilst they try out the area before buying


do you mean furnished or do you mean refurbished?
if you mean furnished then there is a completely different market for furnished properties compared to unfurnished properties.


If you mean refurbished than we return to who is your target market. You mention quality of fittings so you realise that the two are linked but we cannot advice what quality to use simply on the basis it is 3 bed in a nice bit of London ...

G_M

Why a new thread?

Please - if you have more Qs, just add them to your existing thread about your new rental business.

jishi

I am looking for a family or to rent it to professionals.

The house is furnished but I am happy to buy new furniture, paint it and eventually put in new bathrooms. I am wondering what is the best way to go about doing these changes with the soul purpose of renting it out.

phill99

I do a lot of work for landlords. Unless you are in a very exclusive top end market, a £300 bathroom suite will yield no more than a £1000 bathroom suite. The yield will be governed primarily by the area as each area has a ceiling in terms of market rent.

Refurbish to a decent standard with emphasis on easy maintenance. In bathrooms, a decent white 8" x 6" tile an be had for around £8/m sq. Add a cheap border (end of line etc) and it lifts the bathroom and adds style with very little outlay. Upgrade the taps from the basic 'contractors standard' by spending another £50 and again the bathroom becomes stylish. Always add an extractor in the bathroom and when fully tiled, any mould problems are minimised, plus it's one less room to decorate. Use vinyl on the floor as it's easy and cheap to replace.

In kitchens, use basic appliances that are cheap to replace. Get a 'plug in' oven that doesn't require a dedicated circuit so it's less to install and easy to install if it breaks down. Again a Smeg oven won't yield anymore than a Beko one.

Use standard kitchen cabinets from the likes of Magnet or Howdens. Use the standard low end doors and door fronts in a non contentious colour or design (go for white or cream) so that one can be replaced if damaged without having to replace the lot. Go for non integrated washer, fridge and freezer as they are cheaper to replace. Again go for vinyl on the floor as it's durable and cheap.

Use the same wall colour throughout but don't skimp on paint brand. Dulux, Crown, Macphersons or Johnstones may be a bit dearer than sheds own brands but cover better and require less coats so the labour is less.

Carpet throughout in the same colour. Something that won't show the dirt. There are so every hard wearing carpets now such as the bleach cleanable ones that are a god send in terms of cleaning.

Don't furnish it other than white goods. (Unless you are going for the student market) You will be off ever getting calls from your tenant saying the bed is broken or the coffee table is cracked and you will be forever managing furniture.

When refurbished, ask the question 'would I be happy to live here'? The answer needs to be yes. If the answer is 'no' then why expect any one else to live there and look after it.

[Deleted User]

Some landlords find it worthwhile putting in integrated appliances as if you get a dodgy tenant, they are harder to remove and make off with (not impossible but harder).

My landlord had a lot of problems with 'losing' cookers etc when tenants moved out.

AlexMac

Phil's advice is spot on. You don't need high-end stuff to get a good quality finish. What matters with fixtures (if unfurnished) and furnishings (if you choose to offer it furnished) is that they're clean and relatively robust and easily replaceable. I'd quickly get the place clean, redecorated, with new bottom-end white goods (B&Q - or is it John Lewis? -have just emailed me to say they have a Hotpoint washing machine for £180 on sale today), plain new carpets (cheap artificial stuff looks OK and is bomb-proof) or laminate flooring which is also cheap to lay, and offer it as an unfurnished and/or furnished option if that's the advice from local agents. It will only take a few days to organise furniture from a specialist company like Whitewoods, or, come to that, IKEA.

I found when we rented our own fairly high-end place a few years ago that there was no price-differential between furnished and unfurnished, and people who are maybe between homes often find it hard to find a place to accommodate their own furniture and are prepared to actually pay more for unfurnished.

I have a couple of (low-end) 2-bed rentals, one furnished, one not, but the main lesson I've learned as a means of keeping good tenants, is to replace stuff- from fridges and sofas to bigger ticket items like boilers - immediately they bust; whitewoodfurniture.co.uk, the London-based company I mentioned can deliver next day and cart old stuff away, and recommend landlords install idiot-proof kit (like washers without over-complex digital controls).

And apart from requirements like gas safety inspections, it wouldn't hurt a responsible landlord to install a CO2 detector and hard-wired (as opposed to battery) smoke and heat detectors.

Turnbull2000

I wouldn't get too hung up about furnishings, especially as the property is in London. Tenants tend to be less house proud and less fussy.

harpoboy

Worth looking at getting cheap and presentable furniture through a flat pack agency.

I've used these guys before, and found them good:
http://www.davidphillips.com/

Dave_the_Ginger_Cat

AlexMac wrote: »

Phil's advice is spot on. You don't need high-end stuff to get a good quality finish. What matters with fixtures (if unfurnished) and furnishings (if you choose to offer it furnished) is that they're clean and relatively robust and easily replaceable. I'd quickly get the place clean, redecorated, with new bottom-end white goods (B&Q - or is it John Lewis? -have just emailed me to say they have a Hotpoint washing machine for £180 on sale today), plain new carpets (cheap artificial stuff looks OK and is bomb-proof) or laminate flooring which is also cheap to lay, and offer it as an unfurnished and/or furnished option if that's the advice from local agents. It will only take a few days to organise furniture from a specialist company like Whitewoods, or, come to that, IKEA.

I found when we rented our own fairly high-end place a few years ago that there was no price-differential between furnished and unfurnished, and people who are maybe between homes often find it hard to find a place to accommodate their own furniture and are prepared to actually pay more for unfurnished.

I have a couple of (low-end) 2-bed rentals, one furnished, one not, but the main lesson I've learned as a means of keeping good tenants, is to replace stuff- from fridges and sofas to bigger ticket items like boilers - immediately they bust; whitewoodfurniture.co.uk, the London-based company I mentioned can deliver next day and cart old stuff away, and recommend landlords install idiot-proof kit (like washers without over-complex digital controls).

And apart from requirements like gas safety inspections, it wouldn't hurt a responsible landlord to install a CO2 detector and hard-wired (as opposed to battery) smoke and heat detectors.

All good advice, with. Just one correction - it's a CO detector, not CO2.

And my agents suggest not installing laminate, as tenants can damage it through heels, luggage etc. does suit certain markets though