“Furnished”, “Partial-Furnished”, “Unfurnished”, what are these names? Are they just terms that owners and property agents used freely? What are they benchmarking against? We always have this argument about what is “furnished apartment” because every time we see a so-called “furnished” apartment being bare and unattained, this really gets on to our nerves…
”So-called-furnished” but wait.. look at the toilet
We have seen many apartments that are considered “furnished” asking for high rent or selling price. But what we see are odd pieces of furniture thrown in together. The condition of the furniture is also in bad conditions and it is not even consider livable. Some don’t even provide curtains or shades!!!!! Try using your imagination (empty, cold, etc)….
Odd pieces of furniture and… poor kitchen with terribly rusted stove
Not just by putting in the air-conditioning, a fan, window grills and some lights, and Voila, this is considered as FULLY-Furnished. As a matter of fact, we are really impressed by those who dare to classify them.
With air-con and fans… and a really “wet” kitchen
Why do owners have this mentality that the apartment that is being rented out can be of such poor conditions? Mind blogging!!! Is it because owners have bad experience that the tenants will vandalize the property? If we want to rent a place for our own stay, we would like to live comfortably and treat it as a home for a year (a place where we will look forward going back to rest after a day of hard work!). It will sure benefit both the owner’s and tenant’s living standard.
Seriously after viewing many apartments in JB that are labeled “furnished”, only 1 studio apartment in Prima Regency met our standard of “being furnished NICELY”. When we entered into this apartment, we were really impressed with the owner’s attitude towards his tenants. Hope we can have more owners being “frank” like this owner…
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Ong, what is your take and believe with regards to your apt/ condo property investment? Are you personally think basic is good, partly furnish is good or fully furnish is good..? Off course descent fully furnish units will command good rental price but when it comes to initial investment to equip the unit, is another thing to consider.. What’s your comment..?
Fauzi, we found that by simply investing less than RM4000 in furniture and appliances for a 3-room apartment, we are able to increase the rent by RM200-RM400, which allows us to take back the cost in less than 2 years time. And these properties are still ours after the 2 years. It’s all about investment.
Our believe is simple – we are increasing the value of a house by investing in furnishing the house to a standard where people feel like to stay in it.
Cheers
That’s sound interesting and make sense. Anyway, I read Renesial Leong’s book about property and tenancy and she adviced to rent the prop without furnishing. In contras, with current competetive market which supply surpassed demand, I also believed in ‘fully furnish’ unit which will enhanced ‘wow’ factor to potential tenant.. The cheap source of furnitures and appliances is another question to procure. Anyone knows any ‘lubang’ to get second hand furnitures and descent second hand home appliances?
Ong, as what I know, one studio apartment in Prima Regency costs about 100K – 120K, can I know how much it costs as referred by you “being furnished NICELY” for studio apartment in Prima Regency?
Hi WSTay,
We have one studio unit in Prima Regency bought at RM123k which has been furnished nicely. This is one of the units that does not require further furnishing work before we rent it out.
Previous owner claimed that he has spent around RM20k in furnishing. We will share this case in our upcoming article.
Cheers
Ong, was this price “123K” included car park? How much were you renting it out?
Hi WSTay,
Yes, the price includes a car park lot.
Previous owner rented it out for RM900, which we believe is much below market value. We are going to rent it out for RM1200.
Cheers
Hi Ong, this is really a good return to find a “Ready” unit. Is it easy for you to find a tenant?
I did call up an owner this morning, who offer me RM110K, partial-furnished without car park lot at level 12. I budget RM15,000 for furnishing work and RM8,000 to buy a car park lot, total wil be RM133,000. Do you think it is worth to invest if I also rent it out for RM1,200/mth?
Hi WSTay,
We have no problem to find a tenant because we engaged several good agents to locate tenants for us. In fact there were 4 prospective tenants, most of them were corporate tenants.
If you are able to rent it out for RM1200/mth, it is worth investing even after you include all the legal fees. However, do check if it’s worth borrowing because that depends on the minimum monthly installment that you can get.
Cheers
Hi Ong, how long have you been doing this business?
In fact, I am fresh in this market. In the last few weeks, I have found a couple studio Prima Regency units for sale that under my budget, but I am less confidence to find a tenant. I know that there are many agents in the market who can help, but to find a good agent is not easy, I am appreciate If you could guide me.
Hi WSTay,
We are also fresh in this market.
You can read our article “How to find good real estate/property agents?” to learn how to locate good agents.
Cheers