Should we rent out furnished or unfurnished

[ali_alic]

We are due to rent out a house and would like to know the pros and cons of whether to rent it out furnished, unfurnished or, if there is such a thing, part furnished.  Any advice ABers?

Alison

[Miss Zippy]

From personal experience, I'd advise to rent out unfurnished, with the exception of white goods such as fridge and washing machine which most tenants will expect you to provide. This is because anything you provide will have to be either replaced or repaired if it breaks or becomes damaged at your expense. Fully  furnished means exactly that - all living room, dining and bedroom furniture  right down to plates and cutlery in the kitchen. Bear in mind you can only provide furniture that has the appropriate kite marks, so you can't furnish the place with your gran's 40 year old highly flammable furniture.  Part furnished can mean anything really, such as simply providing a sofa and beds.  Most tenants seem to prefer either unfurnished or part furnished as they will often have a cetain amount of furniture etc. The only advantage of providing  furnishings is that you can command increased rent but in my experience this doesn't make it worthwhile - for instance you might find that the difference in renting your property fully furnished or unfurnished is only �75 a month and you'll need to weigh up the potential expense you could incur if you have to pay out to repair or replace certain items. Best thing is to speak to some local agents and see what the rental demand is like in your area and see what tenants are looking for.

[ali_alic]

Thanks Miss Zippy

Its just that I was told its a lot  harder to get them out if its unfurnished - but that was the typical "man down the pub" remark.

[Miss Zippy]

The chap you spoke to is referring to a problem that existed many years ago when unfurnished properties typically attracted 'sitting tenants' that were difficult to evict, due to tenancies law at the time.  However, legislation addressed this problem back in 1988 (the Housing Act), so under a post-1989 tenancy agreement, your rights as a landlord are the same whether your property is furnished or unfurnished.

[rosaleencowa]

Well, it depends how much money you have to spend on furniture. If you don't have much then go for furnished.

In my experience the fully-furnished furniture tends not to be the best. Part furnished is normally the best because you get the basics like a table and appliances etc!

Good luck with it

[Oneeyedvic]

Just add in my two cents....

Very much depends on where you are renting and who you are trying to attract. Personally, I would get a renting agency to come round and ask their advice. This is free and you don't need to take on their services. But they will let you know which one they think is better, and since this is their business......

You get my point

My best friend has 3 properties rented out (all through agencies), one furnished and two unfurnished. One is in Wellingborough, one in Nottingham and one in Milton Keynes - area can count for a lot.

Hope this helps

[Miss Zippy]

State the obvious Oneeyedvic!  I'm sure ali_alic intends to get professional advice but it helps to get feedback from people who have first hand experience of being a landlord.

[Peter Pedant]

Yeah Ali - were you the lucky one asking if steroids were against the Q? anyway,

go for a short hold assured tenancy, for one year renewable.

The forms are available anywaywhere - or do a solicitor for the first one and then do it yourself. (�100-150)

charge a market rent

meet the tenants take up references

tell them what you expect and agree what they expect in return.

Do it unfurnished - but then you cant take cost of furntiture off takings before tax.

You can and should insure the outside and not the inside

Get the Central heating insured - its easier.

Sit back and take the rent!

Landlords let by the way, they dont rent, tenants rent.

[Oneeyedvic]

Sorry, Miss Zippy, but I thought it best to state the obvious.....

My main point was that there is little point in taking 'general' advice on letting out places as each region is completely different. It may be easy to let out a furnished place in some areas of Milton Keynes for example, but try letting it out unfurnished would be almost impossible. It very much depends on who you want to be a tennant. Without any idea of locality and target market, any advice given is pretty much purely a guess!