Renting a Furnished Home

Member since 2021 · 3 posts · 2 votes

I just bought my first investment property and the home came fully furnished. I ended up selling and getting rid of quite a few things, but theres still enough items in the home to consider it furnished. What is everyones opinion on trying to rent a furnished home vs empty?

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Member since 2021 · 240 posts · 300 votes
4y
Long term rental? I'm no expert but I would assume that you'd be targeting a much smaller group of people looking for a furnished home, rather than renters who have their own stuff and want to decorate as they please.
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Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
4y
Renting a fully furnished home on a one-year lease can be difficult. Most people renting a house already have their own furnishings and don't want to use someone else's stuff. There's also the increased risk of your furniture being abused or even stolen at the end of a lease.
I prefer to rent furnished places on a month-to-month basis and at a higher rate for people that are between homes. Otherwise, I recommend removing the furniture and renting it empty.
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Steve K.
Realtor · Boulder, CO · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 5k+ votes
4y
Depends on the market. Furnished rentals are in very high demand in my area because of extremely high net in-migration combined with very low inventory: everyone is moving here, they all have tons of money and there is nothing to buy. People are literally desperate for somewhere to stay while they wait (with a blank check in hand) to win the lottery by having a house come on the market that they can buy. Some are even staying in hotels paying $300-500/night for many months while they wait. We also have a lot of nomadic tech workers looking to live and work here for a short to medium time period, and high rental demand in general. People will pay STR rates for M2M furnished rentals and stay for a year. That's actually what myself and many of my clients have been doing for the past few years. I've had the same tenant in one place since I listed it almost a year ago, even though it's priced as an STR. Profit is great: it's like an STR with 100% occupancy and no turnover costs. You can even hit and exceed the 1% rule here with furnished medium term rentals, despite the average home price being ~1.2M. Other areas in the country might not have anyone looking to rent a fully furnished home. Where is the property and what is the demand like for furnished rentals there? If there is good reason for people to want a furnished rental in your area (low inventory with high net in-migration, attractive to nomadic workers, desirable place for people to take extended vacations, new large employer moving to town, etc.) I'd list it at a big premium and you may be surprised what you can get for it. Or if you don't have short term rental restrictions yet in your area, that can be a highly profitable strategy as well. However not every location will support this strategy and you may end up limiting your pool of tenant applicants as others have said. You could always list it and make a decision based on the results. We'd be able to help you more if we knew where the property was. Welcome to BP by the way, I see this is your first post!
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Colleen F.Pro Member
Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
4y
@Michael Orndorff Jr. Welcome to BP! Ask why it came furnished? Is there already a market for furnished rentals, student, Airbnb? Temporary workers? In our area it is common to have summer rentals and winter student rentals so furnished houses are frequently sold. In other areas this isn't the norm. You also need to decide if you want to rent to the market that wants furnished, generally it is more short term rentals and more hands on.
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Bonnie LowPro Member
Lender · Asheville, NC · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
Reach out to some local insurance agencies. I just listened to a podcast with a guest who has been very successful renting out her furnished home for longer stays for both corporate rentals and insurance rentals. For instance, someone loses their home in a fire, the insurance company may foot the bill to put them up for an extended time, in which case they're looking for a furnished rental because they've lost all their belongings. She got in with one local insurance agency and word has gotten around and now keeps solidly booked using that method. They typically pay much more than market rates and guests are there for longer periods. Good luck!
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Michael Orndorff Jr.
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Member since 2021 · 3 posts · 2 votes
4y
@Bonnie Low I never would of thought of that, thank you! I'll definitely be reaching out to some local insurance agency and see if thats a viable option for me!
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Michael Orndorff Jr.
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Member since 2021 · 3 posts · 2 votes
4y
Originally posted by @Colleen F.:
@Michael Orndorff Jr. Welcome to BP! Ask why it came furnished? Is there already a market for furnished rentals, student, Airbnb? Temporary workers? In our area it is common to have summer rentals and winter student rentals so furnished houses are frequently sold. In other areas this isn't the norm. You also need to decide if you want to rent to the market that wants furnished, generally it is more short term rentals and more hands on.

Thank you! The seller had a death in the family and just wanted to sell as is and move on. I've talked to a few people in the area about my situation and many have recommended reaching out to the local hospital for traveling doctors/nurses to stay in. I do think theres some market for a furnished home, i just worry about this being my first investment property and possibly having all my belongs in jeopardy if i get a lot of renters in a short period of time.

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