Should I Rent My San Diego Property Furnished or Unfurnished?

A very common question we get from owners moving out of their primary residence to rent it out is: should I rent my property furnished? The answer comes down to whether your home would make a good short term rental.

Rent Long Term Properties Unfurnished

For long term rentals, which are six month leases or more, furnished homes will lose. You’ll make less money and have longer times on market. Years ago, furnished properties made more sense. With supply and demand, it evened out.

Today, only a small portion of people want a long term furnished rental. Most people want to choose their own furniture. Renting out a furnished property doesn’t work anymore unless you’re doing a short term rental.

Short Term Rental Market

In San Diego, there are a lot of tourist areas. This means your home may be a good candidate for an Airbnb or a VRBO rental. The positive of short term rentals is the income. If you have a rental that earns you $2,000 a month with a long term lease, that same property could rent for $1,000 per week.

However, there are a lot of drawbacks. You might anger your neighbors, you’ll have more wear and tear, and higher expenses. There’s a transit occupancy tax in San Diego, and you’ll need a business license. Property management is more expensive, and you’ll have to pay between 20 to 25 percent for professional management. If you do it yourself, a lot of time needs to be invested.

Run the numbers before you decide whether a short term rental makes sense. And remember, with long term properties, you don’t want to bother furnishing.  

If you have any questions about how to rent your property out, please contact us at Good Life Property Management.

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Hi friends, Steve Welty here, broker, owner of good life property management, answering the question should i rent my home furnished or unfurnished. Very common question we get from owners that are moving out of their primary residence and need to rent their property. And the answer really comes down to if your property would make a good short-term rental or not, and if you’re open to short-term rentals. So for the long-term rental six months or more, furnished is a loser. You’re gonna make less money, you’re gonna have longer time on market. There was a time many years ago when furnished made more sense. There was less people doing it i believe and so you know supply and demand kind of more evened out, but there was a push to where a lot of people started renting their homes furnished and there’s a very small portion of people that want a long-term furnished rental because most people want to buy their own furniture after a certain period of time. So it just doesn’t work anymore unless you’re going to do short term. Now we’re in San Diego, there’s a lot of good touristy areas so your home could be a good candidate for like an Airbnb or a Vrbo. But you’ve got to be comfortable with that, not every owner is. And so the positive of short-term rentals is you know the one positive is basically the income. You know if you have a two thousand dollar a month long-term rental, it might rent for four thousand you know a thousand bucks a week as a short-term rental. But the negatives: you can anger your neighbors, there’s more wear and tear on the property with people coming and going, higher expenses so you have transient occupancy tax in san diego if you rent your property under 30 days you also need to get a business license, so there’s fees associated with that the management is more expensive, it’s usually 20 to 25 for property management. And then if you do it yourself your time is very valuable right so you’re going to be investing your time so run those numbers and if you’re interested in short term you make the best decision based on the numbers and your time and lifestyle choices and what type of property you have. But long term furnished a loser, don’t even try it. If we can help you with anything at goodlife property management please give us a call, and make it a great day!