Renting: Furnished or Unfurnished?

You had plenty of options to start with—dorms, on-campus apartments, student apartments, rent a house with friends—and you’ve made your decision: a student apartment. Now you just have to decide where and whether you need something furnished or unfurnished.

Sit back, relax and try to remain unglazed-over as we examine the differences between unfurnished and furnished apartments.

Both unfurnished and furnished apartments come with a refrigerator, stove top, blinds and probably a dishwasher

Believe it or not, these appliances can be considered as furnishings, so you need to make sure you carefully read listings and visit each apartment, especially the ones claiming to be “partially furnished.” Can’t make the visit? Call and ask exactly what the furnishings are.

Fully furnished apartments are just that—fully furnished

Fully furnished usually means everything the apartment needs with few exceptions. You may find one fully furnished apartment that comes with a television and DVD player and one that doesn’t. Consider fully furnished to mean kitchen and/or dining room/table, beds, dressers, lamps and other lighting, couches, entertainment center, possibly a desk, chairs, side and end tables, etc.

Unfurnished apartments are just that—completely unfurnished

An unfurnished apartment is left entirely up to you to take care of in the décor department. You’ll need to provide everything from beds to couches to your kitchen table and desk.

Furniture in a fully furnished apartment may be used

You should know before you rent a fully furnished apartment that the furniture, in many cases, is likely to have been previously used—it’s kind of like living in a dorm or dorm apartment. If you are uncomfortable sleeping or sitting on priorly used furniture, you might want to consider other options.

You are expected to maintain the furniture in furnished apartments

In most cases, moving into a furnished apartment means extra clauses in the lease that describe normal wear and tear versus negligence. If you spill red Kool-aid on the white sofa, you may be responsible for getting it cleaned or replaced.

Unfurnished apartments are more flexible

If you’ve ever lived in a dorm, then you know that when furniture is provided you are expected to “leave it as you found it”—when you move out, the furniture should be where it was the day you moved in. With unfurnished apartments, you don’t need to worry about remembering where the furniture was.

A furnished apartment may force you to rent a storage unit

If you show up to a furnished apartment with a bed and there’s already one in place, you will have to find somewhere to store your bed, unless the landlord is willing to remove the provided one.

Despite how cheap they are, furnished apartments will cost more than unfurnished apartments

Typically you can expect to pay 25% higher or more for a furnished apartment than an unfurnished one. This is both for upkeep of the furniture and because furnished apartments typically have shorter lease-lives.

Consider renter’s insurance either way

Whether you rent furnished or unfurnished, consider renter’s insurance. Your landlord will already have insurance on anything that came with the apartment (or should…and you should check!) but you are responsible for everything you bring in.