What are the furnishing minimums for renting?
 

Hi TOTV crew,

As my wife and I progress through our adventure to full time Villagers, we were wondering what the minimum level of furnishings were required to possibly rent our new home until we are full timers?

If there is a thread already covering this topic
I apologize, I was unable to find it. Thanks in advance for your suggestions !!

John and Nancy

If you rent it long term (at least six months) you can rent it without any furniture. Often long term renters are intending to buy soon and will furnish with things they intend to use in the home they purchase. Short term rentals are typically "turn key" which means totally furnished including dishes, pots and pans, silverware, cups and glasses, towels etc. Short term rentals bring more in the winter, but less for much of the rest of the year. Check with rental websites to get an idea of typical rental rates.

The post above is correct. I am assuming you want to rent seasonally. Here is a link to a decent list - http://www.rentmeflorida.com/vacation-home-inventory-checklist.html
Use Villagers homes 4 rent. Great site. You are going to rent January-April. Not a problem. The rest of the months you have to pay attention to the rent, and you have to pay more attention to furnishings. (I have 2 rentals in TV that stay rented about 90% of the time). Take the list above, and double a lot of the towels and kitchen stuff like silverware. Also flesh out the offering - Nesco Roaster, Crock pot, electric frying pan. Must haves - A recliner and a good gas grill with an extra gas cylinder and utinsels for grilling. A Kurig too. Basically, pretend it is your house.

I have a policy I tell my renters -- If it is not there - ask and if it is reasonable I will buy it. Amazon prime works well. I used to have requests about every other renter. Have not had one in 2 years. I have everything.

Make the place feel like home. That is the key. Oh yeah, nice decor is essential - pictures and nicknacks, but NO PLANTS, even plastic they collect dust.

If you want to rent through The Villages then they have very specific requirements - contact them for the extensive list - but otherwise the previous advise to "make it look like a home" is spot on.

renting through the villages
 

No need to use these. We started with them and now do ourselves through The Villages 4 rent. Furnish as you would expect as a renter. The villages list is ridiculous, including must have an electric can opener.

If you want to have no problem renting, allow the renters to have a dog and include a golf cart and you will rent your place as often as you wish. When we rented for a couple of months during our home search, those were our two requirements, and with those two constraints we quickly reduced our rental possibilities from about 1,000 options to about 5. Fortunately, we found a great rental and then found our Villages home.

The only problem I have with this is allowing your dog to drive my golf cart. I have to be able to set limits . . .

When one rental is finished the end of the month and the next starts the first of the month, how do you manage cleanup between the rentals?