Rent Variance Furnished vs Unfurnished

[David9205]

Hello,

New REIN member trying to figure out what the market rent is within an area in Abbotsford, BC. There is a big spread between older and newer buildings in the area and there are currently no listings for unfurnished units in the specific building I'm looking at however there is a listing for a furnished unit on the same floor with the same floorplan. How much less should I expect to receive in rent for an unfurnished unit?

Thank you for your responses.

Dave

 

[TAMI]

Is that a newer building ? Vancouver downtown the difference is around $250 -$500 .depends on the size of the condo , quality and style of the furniture ,building amenities , and the demand for furnished .could you check similar building for monthly rent unfurnished suites ? Usually it will be very close in price

 

[David9205]

Built in 2015, tenant is currently paying $1,500/mth unfurnished however there is a listing for a unit for $2,400 furnished, 2 floors higher but otherwise very comparable. Seems like a big spread.

 

[Tina Myrvang]

Built in 2015, tenant is currently paying $1,500/mth unfurnished however there is a listing for a unit for $2,400 furnished, 2 floors higher but otherwise very comparable. Seems like a big spread.

Have you looked at the REIN Score in your Member Back Office for Abbotsford?

 

[TAMI]

Some furnished units are directly marketed for short term tenants ,in that case lanloards ask short term rental rate which could drastically impact the cost of the unit .as well some furnished units come with utility ;tv cables ,Internet etc ... that will also impact the price if the rent .you could call the listing for $2400 and find information about the unit and what are the items that includes in the rent or even better go for showing ,it will give you some clarity about the rent rate .

 

[Thomas Beyer]

There are two differences to look at: furnished vs unfurnished - say for a year each, and in many cases that difference as indicated above is small, say $300-500.

The bigger difference is short term vs long term. That is why a night in a hotel is usually far more than a one year rental, per night.

AirBnB, VRBO or any rental less than six month is usually illegal in multi-unit buildings as they are zoned " residential " and that is usually defined as longer than six month. Anything shorter is commercial. But, it is ill enforced, widely done and widely abused. Many condo buildings have now changed by-laws to disallow short-term rentals. As such, be careful building a business model on short-term ( usually furnished ) rentals.

 

[TAMI]

I meant short term as more than a month but less than a year , as far as my knowledge its legal under the tenancy act unlike AirBnB and other that usually operate a platform of renting less than a month . Regarding apartment buildings short term rental , it will be very important to check the bylaws of the building before you can assume that you can rent for short term , since many of building have a rental restriction of a minimum of 4 months or 6 months or more .