If you are preparing a Grantham rental home for your first tenants, or even if you’ve been renting for a while, you might be curious if you should include appliances in your rental property. It’s a complex question because there is no clear yes or no answer to it. On the other hand, deciding to include appliances in your rental home should be determined by location, your target renter, and the feasibility of doing so. By analyzing these aspects and understanding the benefits and drawbacks of putting appliances in your rental, you can more easily decide if this is a good choice for you.
Consider the Competition
When evaluating whether or not to include appliances in your rental home, it’s important to know how your rental property compares to others in your community. If comparable rental properties near yours all include appliances and yours doesn’t, that will put you at a distinct disadvantage. This is particularly true if those properties are renting at your desired rate. On the other hand, if many rentals in your area do not offer appliances, there is much less reason to do so. By inspecting your local rental market, you can more confidently decide whether appliances make sense for your rental home.
Consider Tenant Appeal
Even though rental property owners are not forced by law to include appliances in their rental homes, there are a couple of excellent reasons to do so anyway. Perhaps the best reason to incorporate appliances in your rental is to create more vital interest for your target renters. For instance, assume that your rental is close to a college town, adjacent to an urban center, or a popular retirement spot. In that case, there are most likely high quantities of young adults or retirees looking to rent in your area.
For college students, young professionals, and often retired adults, including appliances in a rental might be not just appealing but necessary. Young adult renters are far less likely to own or to be able to own appliances and so often need a rental home that includes them. Older adults may be trying to downsize after retirement to prevent the hassle of appliance ownership and maintenance. In any case, by including appliances in your rental homes, you can better appeal to these renter demographics.
Consider the Benefits
Besides tenant appeal, there are other factors why including appliances in your rental property might make sense for you. For example, rental property owners who offer appliances can often charge a higher rent than those who don’t. Not only can you recoup the cost of the appliances over the long term, but after those appliances have been paid, that extra rent will continue to increase your profitability.
One more great benefit of including appliances in your rental home is that it drastically reduces the chance of wall and floor damage during move-in and move-out. Moving huge appliances in and out of a rental home is hard, and except if performed by knowledgeable professionals, it poses the risk of causing damage to floors, walls, and even doors and trim. By keeping the appliances in place, you prevent this potential damage and simplify the move-in and move-out process for both you and your tenant.
Potential Drawbacks
Obviously, including appliances may not be for all. Numerous landlords don’t want the responsibility of maintenance and repair for appliances, which is sensible sometimes. The cost of buying appliances could be too costly for others. This is especially true if you are having cash flow issues or your budget is tight. In such cases, it may simply not be feasible to offer good quality appliances to tenants, and so the better alternative is to let tenants acquire their own.
While it’s obvious that the decision to provide appliances in your rental home or not is determined by numerous factors, it is definitely up to you to make the best choice for your properties. Sometimes it can be helpful to have an expert Grantham property manager on your side to help you make decisions like these. If you’d like more advice and guidance on how to make your rental property as profitable as it can be, give Real Property Management Beacon a call! Our group can help you set up a rental house that tenants will love while working to keep your monthly expenses as low as possible.
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