My wife and I are considering renting a fully furnished house.
We are looking for information on what is involved and the advantages
of renting a fully furnished home for short terms (week / month)
instead of a unfurnished home with a minimum 1 year lease. 
Information to the question "Why rent a furnished house instead of a
unfurnished house" is sought.

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Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 06 Sep 2005 18:33 PDT

Hello bklodt-ga,

Where are you planning to rent? Location may be significant in
evaluating the market. Thanks.

~ czh ~

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Clarification of Question by bklodt-ga on 07 Sep 2005 02:49 PDT

The house is in Burlington, Ontario Canada.  The house is a historical
house (built in 1890) on a street, 3 houses up from Lake Ontario,
across from a park.  There is a major waterfront development underway
down the street, and this area is becoming a very desireable area.

We understand that the rent we can charge is higher for short term
rentals, and therefore the interest (i.e. 1,000 / week, instead of
approx 1,500/month for a normal rental, unfurnished)

We are concerned about how to maximize the number of weeks / months of
the year the furnished house will be rented.

There is a house near ours, but much bigger, which is doing this now. 
See the following web site http://www.burlingtongbh.com/.  They are
charging similar rates for only a portion of the house (1 or 2 BR),
whereas we would be renting the entire house.

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Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 07 Sep 2005 14:59 PDT

Hello bklodt-ga,

I'm glad I asked. I thought you were asking from the perspective of a
renter and it turns out you're wanting information from the
perspective of a landlord.

My main question is whether you have the time and energy to be
continously marketing the house, handling short term rentals, doing
the extra cleaning and maintenance, worrying about the greater wear
and tear on the house and having to deal with short term bookings. You
are going to earn whatever extra income you make by more frequent
rentals by the extra effort you'll have to put in.

Your clarification seems to say you're interested in looking at the
pros and cons of short-term vs. long-term rental of your house but
your original question asks, "Why rent a furnished house instead of an
unfurnished house?" Please clarify what you really want to find out.
Thanks.

~ czh ~

Hello,
This is no expert advice, and may be more questions.
I would try to talk informally with the Desrochers, owner of the other
house, and get some idea about their experience.  And also talk with
real estate brokers about short and longer term rental of furnished
and unfurnished houses in that area.
Short term furnished renting is probably oriented to vacationers,
requiring much more rental administration:  getting new tenants
(advertising cost); overseeing departures and arrivals and cleaning;
unused weeks; winter (?) - heating at your expense if vacant. 
Vacation tenants are sometimes less careful with furnishings and
facilities.
A whole house, furnished or unfurnished, is a different market than a
floor in the Desrochers' place.  It can be attractive to family moving
into the area that is seeking to buy their own home.

From my point of view, it is a question of how easy it is to keep the
place rented on a weekly basis (considering the related matters) and
for how many weeks each year, versus monthly, 6-monthly, 1-year rental
furnished or unfurnished.  There may also be the factor that with
unfurnished rental there could be greater difficulty having an a
tenant removed  - something a real estate agent could tell you.  They
would probably be most helpful if they saw the possibility of gaining
your business.

I hope this is a little help.  Myoarin

You will have little competition at $1000 per week for a nicehouse
that is nicely furished. The price is high because you may loose
$10,000 on an occasional one week rental. Typically 5 to 10 persons
will occupy your house which makes it competitive with motel rates,
even for poor families. Some times they are poor because of very bad
attitudes. This leads to stollen furnishings, stained and burned
carpets and furnature, busted doors and holes in the wall.

Unless you or your representitive are present at their departure, you
can not prove they did the damage. Generally you can not collect extra
damage amounts if they are poor, so it is prudent to check credit
ratings and accept only major credit cards as payment.   Neil

Thanks for the info.  I can see that renting by the week would be more
onerous then by the month or longer.  One of the target markets,
besides vacationers, would be business executives coming to town for a
week, month or 6 months, who might not want to stay in a hotel for
that long period.  Another target market is a family who have sold
their house but have not found a new one to purchase yet, or they have
been displaced from their own due to an emergency (house fire,
insurance claim etc.).

Since we live 2 houses next door to this house we would be renting, it
will make it easier to do the extra work it would take to look after
this type of short term rental (meeting prosepective tenants,
cleaning, showing etc.)


I can see that I did not post my question very clearly, for which I apologize.

I really am just looking for web sites that talk about the pros and
cons of being a landlord and renting a furnished house for short term
rentals (week/month) etc.  I've been to www.mrlandlord.com, but did
not see any discussion on this.

Thank you for your comments thus far.

Hello,
If I were in your position, I would talk the major employers within
commuting distance, also banks and railway, as they may move staff;
also government.  Try to speak to the most senior person responsible
for personnel or address letters to them by name.  They could be a
source of responsible tenants for one or more months.
If you are member of a service organization (Rotary, Lions, et al.),
talk to fellow members.
If you discover a company that is keeping staff in hotels for weeks,
it could be interested in paying more than one that would just be
giving you as a possible lessor.
Good luck, Myoarin