If you are arranging a Davis County rental home for your first tenants, or you have been renting for a while, you may be thinking if you should include appliances in your rental property. It’s a hard question because there is no clear yes or no answer to it. Instead, deciding to include appliances in your rental home should rely on your location, your target renter, and the feasibility of doing so. After examining these concerns and analyzing the benefits and drawbacks of putting appliances in your rental, you will be able to decide if this is right for you.
Consider the Competition
When deciding whether or not to include appliances in your rental home, it’s important to understand how your rental property compares to others in your vicinity. If comparable rental properties around yours all include appliances and yours doesn’t, you would be at a serious disadvantage. This is especially valid if those properties are renting at your desired rate. However, if the majority of rentals in your location do not include appliances, there is much less reason to do so. Analyzing your local rental market would enable you to make a more positive decision about what appliances make sense for your rental home.
Consider Tenant Appeal
Although rental property owners are not mandated by law to include appliances in their rental homes, there are several compelling reasons to do so anyway. Perhaps the most important reason to put appliances in your rental is to create stronger appeal for your target renters. For example, suppose your rental is located 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, having appliances included in a rental may be more than desirable; it may be 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 and don’t want the hassle of appliance ownership and maintenance. Nevertheless, by including appliances in your rental homes, you can better appeal to these renter demographics.
Consider the Benefits
On top of tenant appeal, there are numerous factors why including appliances in your rental property could seem right for you. To give an example, rental property owners who offer appliances can often demand 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 are settled, that extra rent will continue to give your cash flows a nice boost.
Another great benefit of including appliances in your rental home is that it greatly reduces the chance of wall and floor damage during move-in and move-out. Pulling large appliances in and out of a rental home is exhausting, and unless done by skilled professionals, 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 convenient for both you and your tenant.
Potential Drawbacks
Indeed, including appliances isn’t for everybody. Few landlords do not like the responsibility of maintenance and repair for appliances, which can seem sensible in certain instances. For others, the cost of buying appliances may be extremely costly. This is particularly true if you are having cash flow issues or your budget is tight. In such situations, it may simply not be reasonable to provide good quality appliances to tenants, and so the best option is to let tenants acquire their own.
Although it is obvious that the decision to provide appliances in your rental home or not depends on a variety of factors, it is actually up to you to make the right decision for your properties. In some scenarios, it can be helpful to have an expert Davis County 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 Northern Utah a call! Our professionals can help you set up a rental house that tenants will love while working to keep your monthly expenses as low as possible.
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