Will my NYC apartment come furnished?
Whether it’s your first time to rent in New York or you are planning to move to another apartment, these are the things you should know about furnished and unfurnished units in NYC.
NOTE: To search for NYC apartments go to frele.com (free service). Or, click for more rental tips
Most NYC Apartments are Rented Unfurnished
Most NYC rentals require a minimum of 12 months and almost all of these apartments will NOT come furnished for several reasons.
- Tenants Bring Their Own Furniture. For 12 month or longer leases, most landlords assume that tenants will be bringing their own furniture from their current apartment. Most of the time this is a correct assumption. Many renters bring their own furniture because it helps make the apartment fee morel like “home” to them. Some furniture pieces have sentimental value. Furniture and furnishings are what makes your home unique.
- Too Expensive to Store Furniture. Even if a renter liked the landlord’s furniture, many of them would be faced with having to store their current furniture. Keeping furniture in storage is also very expensive in NYC and could add $100-$300 to your monthly rent each month.
(By the way, for these two reasons listed above, marketing a standard 12 month rental as “furnished only” could spell trouble for the landlord. It often means that this unit will last on the market much longer than an equivalent unfurnished listing.)
- Furnished Apartments are More Expensive. The rent for furnished apartments are generally more expensive than unfurnished apartments. Tenants don’t want to pay the extra rental cost associated with furnished spaces.
Furnished Apartments for Shorter Stays
In general, the shorter the lease term, the more likely that the apartment is furnished. Some companies make money by renting a unit for long-term, furnish them, and then rent them out on a short-term basis at a higher price. Frele and Leasebreak have thousands of these kinds of apartments listed on its site.
People seeking short-term leases often prefer furnished units since bringing in all their furniture and then moving them out after a few months is simply not cost-effective. Many of these renters are in NYC temporarily, so it does not make sense to take out all or even some of their furniture from their permanent residence.
For more NYC rental tips, please go to frele.com/learn.
This article was written by:
Phil Horigan, NYC Real Estate Veteran
Founder, Frēlē, the free and honest NYC rental marketplace
Producer, Phil’s NYC Rental Tips [YouTube Channel]
Blogger: flowfreely.com
Instagram: @philiphorigan
Phil has been a licensed NYC real estate agent since 2004 working for some of the top real estate brokerage firms in the industry. He founded Leasebreak.com in 2013, and Frēlē in 2017. Frēlē and Leasebreak are free and transparent rental marketplaces to search for or post apartments for rent in NYC
Go to frele.com to search for NYC apartments (free service).