Should I rent out my property furnished or unfurnished?

Furnished properties lean to holiday rental. The positive of this is you gain a higher return on your investment in the peak seasons if you live near the beach, lake, or a great holiday destination. The negative is that in the low season your property may be empty a lot of the time losing the gain you made. However, now with contracting being a wider style of employ in Australia you have an opportunity to offer the property for short term lease too. Check with your local real estate agent on the need for short term rentals in your area prior making this decision. If your property is near a university or thriving business centre then short term renters should be readily available. This means if furnished you can offer higher rental yields per week for the convenience, and people often prefer their own space then a hotel. 

Another positive of having furniture is that you are a great alternative to hotels for people relocating who have not found a property to rent or buy yet, as mentioned previously. Short term rentals with furniture usually gain a higher return than a permanent leasing arrangement. The property is kept maintained more regularly between tenants and holidayers, protecting your asset. You can even include a cleaner fortnightly in the rent to know your investment is kept tip top shape. Find an agent who is familiar with this form of rental situation to help you manage or advise you between holiday letting and short term rental opportunities or touch base with us and we can either help advise or recommend an agent in your area.

 If holiday letting how do I protect my furnishings?

If holiday letting make sure you have a security bond in place to protect your quality furnishings and short term rentals can ask for the same bond as a long term rental in NSW four weeks, check with your local Residential Governing Body in your state.

Through my personal experience, leasing our granny flat, our holidayers and short term stays have been far more careful with our investment, keeping it clean and well looked after during their stay. As soon as we accepted long term tenant the property was not looked after as well. The yearly income ended up similar through both permanent or short term and holiday methods of rental. The property long term had a permanent weekly rental income however, we had to do far more maintenance on the property, this out weighed the positivity of a long term tenant. The short term and holidaying option with furniture in place meant the property was well maintained more regularly between holidayers and leasers, and the furniture was kept in place, making less furniture moving marks. Service bills were far lower creating less overhead.

Obviously your granny flat, studio or property may be in an area where it is hard to gain holidayers and short term leasers. Then offering an empty property will be of benefit as most people in long term rental situations want their own furniture stored with them.

Check referees personally and consider a TICA check

Always check referees and conduct a previous tenancy check if leasing yourself long term, either with a previous landlord or agent, or through a tenancy check report through large tenancy database companies such as the National Tenancy Database, TICA, and Trading Reference Australia. Make sure you have a formal Tenancy Rental Agreement in place relating to your states.

Helpful Links for Checking Prospect Tenants

TICA

National Tenancy Database Australia

Trading Reference Australia

Please contact us if we can help further in any way or visit us on facebook @grannyflatrental

Disclaimer The information contained in blog.grannyflatrental.com is general information only and does not constitute property, legal, financial or compliance advice. We recommend you obtain your own legal counsel around landlord obligations and tenancy rights for holiday letting or leasing your property. Laws relating to tenancy agreements change regularly, and local council rules differ greatly around holiday letting. We recommend you check with the governing department in your State or Territory and local council around any legal disputes you may have with a tenant(s) or holidayer and their rights.

Posted by Lisa Founder GFR