Renting out a fully furnished property is a perfect idea, especially if you own a small apartment or condo. This type of rent is great for people who, regarding their predominant lifestyle, mostly need a home ready to be occupied, so that they don't have to buy any house equipment.
Nevertheless, before you will be able to enjoy the extra cash you get by renting a fully furnished property, there are plenty of decisions to be made and lots to think about.
What costs will be involved for you?
First of all you’ve got to find out how much you will have to pay up front to set it all up. Go through the offers of available fully furnished properties in your area. Compare a few properties of a similar size, location and furnishing as the one you are going to offer. As soon as you get a more precise idea of the usual rent for a fully furnished place such as yours, prepare a list of all items you would have to buy so that your apartment will really be able to be called "fully furnished". These days, a fully furnished apartment means you will provide not only all the usual furniture, but also all of the utilities such as gas, electricity, water, phone, cable, wireless Internet, security, all the kitchen ware, appliances, towels, bed linen and cleaning supplies.
The next step is to determine if you can afford to fully furnish your apartment to the extent described above. List down everything you will have to buy to furnish your place to the extent described above. Also consider the fact that you may have multiple tenants over a number of years, so there will undoubtedly be periods of unoccupation between some tenants. If you decide that making your flat fully furnished would be too difficult for you now, there is a possibility to offer it as "part-furnished". It may be less attractive than a fully furnished place, but it is of course easier for you.
Listing the provided equipment and setting up a deposit
First remove all your private things, e.g. family photographs and so on, just everything that you view as only yours - especially if you have lived in the flat yourself. The next thing to do is to make an inventory of all items in the apartment. You should go through the list along with the tenant, walking through the flat and seeing everything provided by you together. Even individual items like spoons, forks, knives, towels or linen should be counted and the numbers written down.
It is considered good practice to have the list prepared in the presence of your rental agent and once agreed, the inventory should be signed by all parties. As soon as the contract expires, you will have to go through the place again and make a note of everything that is there. All objects that the tenant has destroyed or lost will have to be replaced and paid for from the deposit that you agreed on at the beginning.
With the winter Olympic games closing in, more and more people in Vancouver are considering renting out a fully furnished place to take advantage of this year’s impending gold mine. While this might be the case if you already have a convenient unit, it might become a nightmare if you have to start from scratch. It is always better to plan the return on investment for rental properties over the long term and not only as a quick way to get rich.
Jay Banks is Vancouver real estate egent
