Furnished vs unfurnished

[Basment Dweller]

I'm curious as to your experiences with rentals that are furnished and unfurnished. Do you bother renting to people who need furnished houses, then go through the trouble to pay and furnish the place, or do you reject these people all together. Also do you turn tenants away that require the place to be unfurnished, and now you house is furnished what do you do? Put everything is storage? Sell? What about people's specific tastes in furniture, maybe you furnish the place and they don't like it...what are your thoughts on this topic?

[arebelspy]

It depends on your market.

SFRs in my market typically aren't furnished, but some high rise condos are.  The best thing to do is look at what your competition is doing, and see what's typical for your area.

[Basment Dweller]

Thanks for the input...whats a SFR? Single Family Residence?

[arebelspy]

Thanks for the input...whats a SFR? Single Family Residence?

Yup.  A house, basically, as opposed to a condo or townhome or duplex or whatever.

[Basment Dweller]

How do you go about furnishing your houses?

[jnc]

What are you reasons for wanting to rent out a furnished place?

In my experience, unfurnished is less hassle and the less hassle the better. The properties I own are rented out without appliances (the tenant brings their own) which means I don't have to worry about the maintenance of these appliances.

I think one scenario that would be good for furnished rentals is high end rentals, rented on a weekly basis but there needs to be demand in your area for this kind of thing. Otherwise, there is no point.

Anyway, if you live in the US, Craigslist is a pretty good place for getting furniture at a good price.
Hope that helps.
- jnc