Top Tips: Furnishing your buy-to-let property

Whether you’re a house-proud property owner or thinking about making an investment, it’s important to think about the work that needs to go into a property upon completion. After the sale is finalised and the property complete, you’ll be able to charge higher rents and get better rental yields if you spend some time finishing and furnishing the inside of your property. Spend a little bit of time and effort here, and this can greatly increase the yields you’ll make on your buy-to-let property. Whether you choose to do this yourself or let experienced property managers do it for you, we’ve put together some of our top tips to consider when furnishing your buy-to-let property.

Start with the basics

Unless you’re planning to let your property unfurnished, you’ll need to make sure you’ve got the essentials covered. While renting the property unfurnished will save you some money initially, you won’t be able to charge the same rental premiums as a furnished property. Properties in Manchester can add roughly £200 more on to the monthly rent if the flat is furnished to a good standard. Without these premiums, your rental yield could be lower than its full potential earning power.

The modern rental market has a few expectations of a furnished property, with these being the most essential basics in a furnished apartment:

• Beds and mattresses
• At least one sofa or chair
• A dining table with chairs
• A wardrobe or set of drawers
• Curtains, carpets or blinds
• All white goods and kitchen appliances including washing machine, fridge and freezer.
• A washing machine

Keep it simple

Make sure to keep things simple and avoid anything that might not be a welcome addition to tenants. Remember, the tenant will be the one living in the space and will want the space to be as comforting and homely as possible.

If you are planning to add in some more extras to the property, here’s a good example of some do’s and don’ts with your rental property interior design:

DO

• Put in mirrors where appropriate
• Put in basic shelving and extra cupboard space
• Include further storage options
• Include other convenience appliances such as a dishwasher, tumble dryer and microwave.

DON’T

• Add in potted plants that require tenant maintenance (unless they request this)
• Add in too many statement pieces – one quirky chair may entice a tenant but 5 quirky chairs and a decorative rug may be a bit off-putting.
• Leave personal belongings, pictures or heirlooms in the property – this might not be what the tenant wants but any accidental damage could upset both the tenant and yourself.

Be sensible with spend but don’t be afraid to splash out

Good quality furnishings will go a long way. Much like with furniture in your own home, over time general wear-and-tear will set in. As a general rule of thumb, the better quality furnishings you buy, the less these will need to be replaced and repaired.

Good furnishings can be found at reasonable prices from many popular flat-pack retailers, and bargains can be found everywhere you look. With this in mind, if you feel the quality of the furnishing is cheap and looks like it will damage easily, its best to opt for something else. In the long run, this will save you and your tenant a lot of headaches.

Furnishing Your Buy-To-Let Property

Struggling with where to start when it comes to furnishings? In many of our properties we’re able to offer our investors full furnishing packs to help them kit out their new property in style.

If you want more information about furnishing packs available for our properties, get in touch with one of our property experts today. They’ll be able to advise you on all the right decisions it makes right from securing your investment to renting it out to tenants.