Furnished rentals vs unfurnished? Pros/cons

[irman]

Originally Posted by longneckone

Where do you find that. In my area there are a lot of restrictions on pets. Unfortunately none on kids.

Where is *your area* ?

[LifeIsGood01]

Originally Posted by Kakoons2

Furnished or unfurnished when renting a flat/house? Isn't getting a furnished one similar to leasing a car, no value cause you don't own it? Explain why you'd pick one or the other. We are a family of four with two small kids.

In the US most apartments are rented unfurnished. They do include appliances such as a stove and refrigerator, but unless it's built in you usually have to supply your own microwave.

I don't know what you mean by the car leasing analogy.

You are paying more for a furnished apartment and it's used furniture with used beds/mattresses unless it's a brand new place. You find furnished apartments more in transient areas where people do not plan to stay long or just get up and go with their clothes. As a LL it's better to rent unfurnished because you don't have to worry about the tenant just leaving because if it was their furniture it would be more trouble and expense to hire movers. If you rent furnished you will have to pay for any furniture that you damage.

When I moved to Florida I didn't have a lot of furniture, I only took whatever I could tow in the back of a small uhaul trailer, about 40 square feet worth of stuff. Luckily I found an apartment that was furnished because the lady who got kicked out had left her furniture. Then I found a small bungalow rental near the beach that had a bed, desk, and bistro table and chairs so I just had to buy a sofa and coffee table. The 3rd place I rented was unfurnished so that was when I had to buy furniture.

[LifeIsGood01]

Originally Posted by irman

By the way ..., it will be no problem to find housing when you have two dogs.
Believe me, it is easier to find housing with dogs compared to finding housing when you have kids !

So not true. Kids are a protected class that can not be discriminated against in many areas as far as renting to parents with kids goes, dogs are only allowed at the mercy of the LL unless it's a service dog.

[irman]

Originally Posted by LifeIsGood01

In the US most apartments are
<<<snipped>>>
When I moved to Florida I didn't have a lot of furniture.

These statements have nothing to do with what the OP wants to know.
She is moving to Europe !!

Originally Posted by LifeIsGood01

So not true. Kids are a protected class that can not be discriminated against in many areas as far as renting to parents with kids goes, dogs are only allowed at the mercy of the LL unless it's a service dog.

Is this statements true for The USA ?
Where do you live ?
Have you lived in Europe and tried to find housing with a family of 6 ?
It was easier if we would have said we had 4 dogs !
We did find a place but only because one of their kids worked for us.
So yes, if you know people easy to find housing.

One reason why I mentioned to look for housing outside of Munich, at some farm where they are used to animals ..

[Addie_Furnishr]

When going with an unfurnished apartment, you have a little more room to be creative. Being able to chose what you want is important to a lot of people and having a cohesive design that they choose is sometimes optimal.

[ChicagoMeO]

ewww how can anyone sleep on a used bed in a furnished apartment?

[oregonwoodsmoke]

You pay for damage when you rent an apartment. With 2 small kids, there is likely to be some damage, and there will be more damage to furniture than there will be to an unfurnished apartment where any furniture damage is to your own furniture.