Furnished rentals are somewhat of a rarity in this market, unlike in other places. For example, my family and I went on vacation to Lake Tahoe awhile ago, and we rented a huge house with three families. It was a good deal for us because it was a furnished rental. But that’s Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe is a resort destination. San Antonio – as much as we like to have tourists pass through here – is not a resort destination. There are not a lot of resort style rental homes. So, renting out a furnished property is just uncommon in this market.
Problems with furnished rental property
Many people would look at a furnished rental property in San Antonio and think it was odd. This could cause your home to not rent and stay vacant on the market. The people looking for a rental home are going to have their own furniture to move in. Plus, when you rent out a furnished home, you have to make sure you document every single piece of furniture you have there at the time of move in and move out, and your tenants will need to sign off on that documentation. This can be fairly tenuous, especially when you consider all the other details that come with a property rental.
In many cases, the only reason a tenant would want a furnished rental would be if he or she only planned to stay for a short period of time. You might get a renter for one month or three months looking for a furnished home, but then they are gone and you have a lot of turnover. This can increase your vacancy rate, and when you miss a window in home rentals, that can cost you money.
Another major concern about furnished rentals is that you have to be concerned with the damage that can be caused to the furniture you leave there. This is the case any time you leave something in the home for your tenants to use.
Furnished rentals are not something we recommend.
We understand that they exist in other markets and that they can be very successful in some places. However, in San Antonio, they are uncommon and not the best idea. If you have any questions about this or property management in general, please contact us at RentWerx.
