Question being asked: What kind of furniture is best for a rental property
Who do you want to attract to your rental
How you furnish your rental property depends very much on who your target market is. For example, if you are aiming at short term holiday lets on the south coast, your market is likely to be families with young children. However, if you have a short term let in Blackpool, you may be aiming at the stag and hen party market. An HMO or short term let near a major hospital may well be aiming at the contractors or nurses market.
All of these groups will treat your furniture differently. Children are far more likely to scuff, spill or drop things on your furniture, so it would be a great idea to have easy to clean furniture, maybe with washable, removable covers to any soft furnishings. The single night or weekend renters are less likely to be cooking or sitting in the living area, so more attention could be spent on choosing furniture for the bedrooms, but you may not even need full wardrobes.
Consider creating an image of the ideal people you would like to rent your property and see if you can figure out what kind of furniture would appeal to them.
Factors to consider when choosing furniture
Something else you need to think about is what you want to do with the furniture in the long run. So, in a few years, are you happy to replace everything for new, or do you want to be able to keep the furniture for much longer? One great way to future proof your furniture is to invest in some great, solid oak furniture. Tables and chairs in oak can easily be sanded down and re-varnished when they start to look a bit tired, saving the time and expense of replacing it.
As mentioned before, checking for removable covers that can go in the washing machine is almost a must for a high turnover family let property. Similarly, plastic dining chairs or laminated side tables can be easily wiped down to remove grubby fingerprints, or spilled drinks. Another consideration is how many people you want to accommodate. Having zip link beds is a great way to be able to flex the number of people, rather than having double beds throughout.
And finally, it is always important to think about the look and feel you want for your property. Do you want it to be very neutral and a blank canvas, or do you want to make it look modern and have vivid splashes of colour around the place, using soft furnishings or bold statement pieces?
Budgeting and choosing your furniture
Once you’ve decided on the overall look you want, it is then the time to find your chosen supplier. At this point it is very important that you choose a trade supplier, who are specialists in supplying furniture to the rental market. They already understand the need for functional, practical, hard-wearing but attractive furniture.
Another way that trade suppliers are key, is that they often supply full room packs, so you can choose a range, and then just order however many bedroom packs you need, and a matching living room and dining room pack to go with them. That way, the style of your property will be consistent throughout, and it is often better value to buy packs than individual items.
Four of the well known trade suppliers that we have worked with in the past and offer great deals for landlords are:
At this stage, you can also consider whether you want to buy the furniture with cash, (which may be in short supply at this stage of a project), or whether you want to lease the furniture, saving your cash and spreading the cost of the payments over 3 years. To help you make that decision, have a look at our free download “Leasing vs Buying” on our website https://landlordsmart.co.uk .
How can Landlord Smart help
If you choose to lease your furniture, then Landlord Smart will help you through the process, making it as easy and smooth as possible.
Firstly, if you want to have a look and get an estimate of how much the finance might cost you, then head on over to our website and use the calculator there https://landlordsmart.co.uk .
Our process is very simple, and consists of just 6 steps. We can also help with finding lease finance for a variety of other assets – not just furniture.
To find out more, and to have a free, no-obligation chat with us, book your call on our website at a time that suits you and one of our friendly, professional team will call you.
https://landlordsmart.co.uk . Or send an email to us at enquiries@landlordsmart.co.uk .
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