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Renting: Furnished vs. Unfurnished

Many clients have asked me the pros and cons of furnished vs. unfurnished rental of their property, hopefully the following will assist in answering some of these questions..

At Downtown Suites, we have found the reverse to be the case and have recommended to our clients that they only rent on an unfurnished basis.

Downtown Suites Ltd is not adding any more furnished suites to its portfolio.
The factors that have led to this decision are as follows:

Furnished:

Require a capital investment of approximately $15k on average to outfit a suite. No, your old basement furniture will not do!
Annual replacement of linens, regular carpet cleaning costs and painting touch up of the suite
There is a lot of competition!
Expect at least 30-40% vacancy.
Other owners do not like their residence building being a “hotel”.
Many buildings now require a move-in fee even if it is only a suitcase being moved!
Many buildings have a minimum tenancy period, i.e. 3-6 months
Full utility package including telephone, cable, internet, heat and light must be paid by owner whether tenant occupied or not.
Extra cleaning costs. The suite has to be cleaned after every move out – this is the owners responsibility (have you ever been to a hotel and asked to clean up after yourself?!) Cleaners are expensive minimum $40 per hour now for a team of two.
Many guests will require weekly cleans at owners cost
Almost no screening, basically all that is required is a valid credit card for a $500 hold to be put on it. Of course with credit card fraud being so abundant who knows if it really is their card!
Further to the above, almost all of our problem tenants have been in furnished situations.
Charge back of credit card discount fee of 3% per transaction.
Commission charged by Downtown Suites Ltd is 20% of gross rent (Remember there is much more turn over, reservation inquiries, move in procedures and customer service than with a conventional rental).

Unfurnished:

One year lease, 100% occupancy
Full credit, employment and reference check
Commission is 8% of gross rent (minimum of $100 to a maximum of $250 per month)
Half a months rent charged for placing tenants
Less wear and tear

Just do the math and you will see that it is much less trouble and less worry to rent unfurnished and the bottom line will probably be better too!

Privacy Notice

Downtown Suites Ltd.
Phone:(604) 694-8806 Fax:(604) 682-5634
Office:Conference Plaza, #247-515 West Pender St., Vancouver, BC, V6B 6H5 Canada
Members of The Better Business Bureau and The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver

Buildings we work in:

Spectrum One: 111 West Georgia | Spectrum Two: 668 Citadel Parade, Vanouver, BC
Spectrum Three: 131 Regiment Square | Spectrum Four: 602 Citadel Parade, Vancouver, BC
Harbour Green One , Harbour Green Two, Woodward's, The Garage,The Foundry,Pure, The Fairmount
The Alvar, Alda, Aqua, Abbott Place, Admiralty, Avila, Alberni Place, Anchor Point, Aquarius Mews, The Aquarius, 1199 Marinaside Crescent, Alexandra Place,The Alexander, Alexis, Azura 1, Azura 2, Altadena, Bauhinia, The Bidwell, The Bayshore, 1777 Bayshore, 1717 Bayshore, 1710 Bayshore, 1790 Bayshore, 1650 Bayshore, 1616 Bayshore, 1680 Bayshore, Brava, Bowman, Broughton Terrace, Bentley, Captain French, Carina, Callisto, Californian, Capital, Classico, Cooper's Park, Chinatown East, Cristalys, Coopers Landing, Creekside, Cielo, Citycrest, City Gate 1, City Gate 2, Carrall Station, Carylyle, Concorde, The Canadian, Cascina, Century Tower, Crestmark 2 , Crandall, Columbus, Conference Plaza, Coral Garden, Connaught Place, Discovery, Denia, Domus, Donovan, Dockside, Erickson, Emerald West, Eight.one.nine., Escala, Ellington, Espana, Electra, Electric Avenue, Elan, Eden, Europa, The Edge, Fusion, Freesia, Flagship, Fairmont, Firenza, The 501, Grace, Governors Tower, Galileo, Greenshields, Green Tower, Greenwich Place, The George's Place, The Grafton, The George, Genesis, L'Hermitage, H& H, Hudson, Hooper, Harbour Cove, Harbourside Park, King's Landing, Koret Lofts, Iliad, Imperial Tower, The Icon, Jardines Lookout, Jervis Court, Lakeview Court, Lumiere, London Place, Landmark, Landmark 33, L'aria, The Left Bank, The Lions, Liberte, LTD, Madison, The Malkin Building, Marinaside Resort, Mayfair House, Max 1, Max 2, Miro, MoDe, Mondrian, Metroliving, Murchies Building, Mission, Milano, House, Metropolis, The Montreux, The Melville, Nova, New Yorker, One Wall, Orca Place, The Oscar, Palisades, Paramount Place, Parkview Gardens, Pacific Plaza 1, Pacific Plaza 2, Pacific Point, Palais Georgia, Paris Place, The Park, The Pointe, Point Claire, The Pinnacle, Pomaria, Portofino Towers, Precidia, Pure, Quaywest, Robson Palais, Robson Gardens, Robinson Tower, Raffles, Rosedale, R&R, The Sapphire, Shaw Tower, Smart, Space, Shangri La, The Spot, The Savoy, The Skyline, Station Place, Sussex, Terminus, Tribeca Lofts, TV Towers, Van Horne, The Verona, Qube, Residences on Georgia, Spectrum, Shaughnessy Mansions, Seastar, The Sterling, The Taylor, Yaletown Park, Venus, 1010 Howe, Viceroy, Victoria, Vita, Wall Centre, Waterworks, Xtraordinary Lofts, 1000 Beach, Yacht Harbour Point, 888 Beach, West One, The Vine, Woodwards Building