Furnishings
Mistakes with selection of furnishings often relate to a landlord
imposing his or her personal taste on the choice selections. It is
impossible to know the tenant in advance but Buy2LetExpert will first
draw a profile of the likely age and type of potential tenant. This will
depend on the location and type of property. Buy2LetExpert will then
identify where the demand is likely to come from for the property and
then fit the furnishings around that likely profile.
Even armed with the information above, one cannot be sure regarding
individual taste. The key is to try to make a property 'neutral' but not
look like a hospital and be too clinical and/or boring. This is a
delicate balance but a few pointers for an example property targeted at
a small group of tenants who are all working following recent graduation
from university might be:
- Accept that in the real world sofas and chairs will become dirty
and worn. Purchase modern designs with removable covers. Expect to
change the covers rather than the sofa in the coming years so buy
spare covers in advance before the product is discontinued.
- Dining tables should be as flexible as possible. Many younger
people do not eat regularly at conventional dining tables these days
but do want a table for use on occasions or for other tasks. Gate
leg designs are very good where space is very tight. Designs should
be modern.
- It can be very hard to visualise the size of furniture once in
the property when it is displayed in much larger premises or on the
net. Taking measurements, photos and ideally scale plans of the
property to the furniture supplier really helps.
Buy2LetExpert will aim to make the property look as big and spacious
as possible! There are many 'tricks' but furnishings are one important
cog in the wheel.
Ikea is a good supplier of well designed contemporary 'flat pack'
furnishings. While the designs and price are good, the quality is not
always as high. Consequently, after a year or two, items may quickly and
need replacing. This may not be a bad thing. For a buy to let property,
it is often better to pay 2x £150 for a dining table over a 5 year
period than pay £300 (or much more) for a better quality table that
lasts more than 5 years. The more expensive table may get damaged anyway
after a couple of years and need replacing and/or the design may start
to look dated in any case by the time 5 years has passed.
While Ikea and similar type furniture suits the buy to let market well,
the furniture requires selection, collection and assembly. This is a
surprisingly time consuming process and as always the key is to
minimise voids. Buy2letExpert achieves this by ensuring that
furniture is selected, purchased and assembled at the same time that
the property is cleaned, decorated and repaired. Buy2letExpert may
store the newly assembled furniture ready to drop to the house the
moment the old tenant leaves.
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