Thoughts on Furnished Rental... (Austin, Spring: real estate, apartments, leasing)

[IDtoTX]

Are we crazy to consider renting a place already furnished in Austin? Are there any issues that I need to consider? Our furniture is still with our house in another state so we were thinking this might be a good way to go but people seem to think it's kind of gross to do that.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

[jimmyjack]

I suppose it is a matter of what has gone on there before you get there. If I was to take a furnished rental I would get one of those lights like they have on Miami CSI just to make sure.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by IDtoTX

Are we crazy to consider renting a place already furnished in Austin? Are there any issues that I need to consider? Our furniture is still with our house in another state so we were thinking this might be a good way to go but people seem to think it's kind of gross to do that.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

If you are planning to limit your search to furnished rentals, yes it's crazy. There are very few rental homes offered furnished in Austin. You might find more apartments, but you'll probably pay more than if you rented a vacant dwelling and leased your furniture from a furniture rental company.

From the other end of the question, whenever I've had a client who wants to lease their house furnished, I tell them not to do it. Too much hassle. You'd have to inventory everything. It's not worth it and I've never done it, not even once.

Steve

[okaythen01]

so it's cheaper to rent furnitures from those furniture rental place vs renting a furnished apt? is that true? I am thinking about getting a furnished apt, maybe for 2,3 months while I look for houses

[MKD MD]

We are living in a furnished rental home, while our house is being built. We found a couple of advantages: the moving cost to move into an unfurnished rental and then pay moving costs again to move into our permanent home was higher than just consolidating into one move into our permanent residence. Also, the moving in process can be pretty laborious depending on how much stuff you have, so we did not want to go through that twice.

That being said, it was not easy to find a furnished rental. Most of the furnished apts, are "corporate apts", and are pricey. The advantage is you can lease month to month with these. When we inquired looking at an apt and then renting furniture, it was also pretty expensive. Also, most apt and some home rentals want you to sign an 8 mo- year lease, which was too long for us.

I would recommend looking at the "vacation" rentals. We are currently living in a home in the lakeway area about 8 minutes from where our permanent house is being constructed. We have the advantage of a fully furnished home, including dishes and linens, without the hassle of having to move twice. You can google "vacation rentals " or "furnished rentals" in austin to come up with some of the rental property agencies. If you have a real estate agent, that is another great resource.

[atlanta hope]

I saw a few things on Craigslist when I was considering leasing a furnished house. We weren't sure if we were going to rent long term or buy a house so moving from out of state, it made sense not to move furniture and stuff twice. Luckily we ended up buying so we're moving straight from house to house.

I saw a nice house near Sunset Valley for $1800/month. I think that included utilities but I don't remember for sure. Think I saw it on austinhomesearch.com.

[iceshots]

We are currently doing the furnished rental bit as part of a company relocation. As stated, corporate apartments are good but expensive. The company is paying so we don't really care. The vacation rentals are also a good choice. We are currently in one, but the rent on that is much more that the rent on the corporate apartment. The relo company had to go back to get authorization for the increase spend.

Are you moving here with kids? Do you already have a signed lease or offer on the house you want to move in to?

If the answer to A is yes, and B is no, then you want to make sure the furnished rental property is in the same ISD as the area you want to end up in. Otherwise, you will have to enroll your kids in the same ISD as your rental, and then transfer them when you buy a house.

This happened to us when we came down 2 weeks before school started. The corporate apartment was in Austin ISD, but we had already decided we were buying in Dripping Springs. The high school would not enroll her without a Dripping Springs address. The relo company had to find a vacation rental in Dripping Springs ISD for us to move to for the rest of the three month period.

[ohio2texas]

We lived in a furnished rental for a month. It was a two bedroom apartment and it was $2000 for the month, utilities included. It was part of a relocation package, so we didn't care. As for the "icky" factor, we just washed everything before using it. For instance, there were sheets on the beds when we got there that were clean, but I washed them anyway. Same with all the towels... washed them before we used them. We had no issues and it was an easy way to live until our furnishings were moved down from Ohio.

[elegant_accents101]

I so will be providing my home for lease as a furnished property and am considering including the gardener and cleaning service in the price ........ Is this a good idea?

[iceshots]

This is probably a good idea. It removes one worry about the upkeep of the place, and gives you eyes on the inside.