If you are getting a Kimberly rental home ready for your first tenants, or even if you’ve been renting for a while, you might be thinking if you should include appliances in your rental property. It’s a tricky question since there is no clear yes or no answer to it. Instead, deciding to include appliances in your rental home should be determined by location, your target renter, and the feasibility of doing so. By looking at these factors and weighing the benefits and drawbacks of putting appliances in your rental, you can more accurately decide if this is suitable for you.
Consider the Competition
When deciding whether or not to include appliances in your rental home, it’s critical to know how your rental property compares to others in your area. If comparable rental properties near yours all include appliances and yours doesn’t, that will put you at an obvious disadvantage. This is particularly evident if those properties are renting at your desired rate. However, if many rentals in your area do not include appliances, there is much less reason to do so. By getting familiar with your local rental market, you can more confidently choose whether appliances make sense for your rental home.
Consider Tenant Appeal
Even though rental property owners are not required by law to include appliances in their rental homes, there are a couple of good reasons to do so anyway. Perhaps the most significant reason to put appliances in your rental is to create stronger appeal for your target renters. For example, presume that your rental is situated in a college town, adjacent to an urban center, or a popular retirement spot. In that case, there are probably high numbers 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 needed 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 avoid the inconvenience of appliance ownership and maintenance. Either way, by including appliances in your rental homes, you can better appeal to these renter demographics.
Consider the Benefits
In addition to tenant appeal, there are other considerations why including appliances in your rental property might seem right for you. As an illustration, rental property owners who offer appliances can often ask for 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 compensated, that extra rent will help to increase your cash flow.
Another 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 large appliances in and out of a rental home is difficult, except if done by experienced professionals, and it poses the risk of causing damage to floors, walls, and even doors and trim. By leaving the appliances in place, you avoid this potential damage and make the move-in and move-out process much easier for both you and your tenant.
Potential Drawbacks
Of course, including appliances may not be for everyone. Several landlords don’t want the responsibility of maintenance and repair for appliances, which is reasonable in some cases. The cost of buying appliances could be prohibitive for some. This is certainly the case if you are having cash flow issues or your budget is tight. In such circumstances, it might simply not be reasonable to include high-quality appliances to tenants, and so the best choice is to let tenants buy their own.
While it’s evident that the decision to provide appliances in your rental home depends on many things, it is definitely up to you to make the best decision for your properties. In some cases, it can be helpful to have an expert Kimberly 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 Magic Valley a call! Our experts can help you set up a rental house that tenants will love while working to keep your monthly expenses as low as possible.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
