A furnished apartment is a comfortable choice for your temporary housing needs. With this 7 step guide, you can set up your own furnished apartment.
When you need a home away from home, a short-term rental is an excellent option.
You can avoid a cramped hotel room, and you can prepare your own healthy meals. Not to mention, staying in an apartment will have a more residential or homey feeling, easing the anxiety many of us feel while traveling.
But how does that work? I mean, you’re not moving there permanently. This is just temporary. Maybe you’re between homes, in a different city for medical treatment, or working an internship. These are all situations when temporary housing is needed.
One excellent choice to set up temporary housing is with an assist from a Corporate Housing company. They do everything for you in one all-inclusive bundle...from securing the apartment, to arranging and paying the utilities and wifi, to setting up all furniture and housewares. Basically, everything is done for you and included and all you have to do is move in. It's a great option, but can be expensive. Learn more about Corporate Housing here.
If Corporate Housing is above your budget, this article reveals the steps experts take to set up a furnished apartment, and we show you the pitfalls to avoid.
There is a fair amount of work to put the pieces in place. But with a little help from professionals like those at Furniture Options, you can absolutely do it yourself.
That’s what Keylan Killgore learned.
Keylan wanted to be a professional baseball player from the time he threw his first strike in little league.
Like any kid, he was drawn to the glamorous life of a professional athlete. He dreamed of a big house, staying in fancy hotels, and traveling all over the country playing the game he loved.
Keylan was a hard worker. And as a tall, left-handed pitcher, with a screaming fastball, his chances of playing beyond college were very good.
He had a lot of success playing at Wichita State University, and in the summer after his junior year, he got the call.
In the 17th round of the MLB draft, the Philadelphia Phillies selected… left-handed pitcher, Keylan Killgore!
It wasn’t an easy decision to leave school before graduating. That “life-changing money” most people associate with professional athletics, does not happen past the first few rounds.
After some negotiations though, Keylan accepted their offer and was off to Florida to start his adventure. He was about to fulfill his dream of playing professional baseball!
It was exciting. And nerve-racking. And harder than anything he had ever done.
Life as a minor league player is definitely not glamorous. It involves crappy hotels, hours on a bus with a bunch of other guys, and getting paid a tiny salary that barely covers your expenses.
As the season was winding down, it was time to start thinking about where he would live when the season ended. He would be home in Wichita for about five months with his family and his fiance before heading back to Florida for spring training.
Where do you start?
Could he get a lease on an apartment for only five months? He didn’t have much in the way of furniture, so how was that going to work? If he spent a bunch of money buying new furniture, what was he going to do with it when he went back in February?
Luckily for Keylan, he has an aunt who is in the business of setting up furnished apartments, and he turned to her for help.
She guided him through the process using the steps we’re going to reveal. Then with the help of the professionals at Furniture Options, Keylan was able to set up his furnished apartment, giving him a comfortable place to live while home for the off-season.
Maybe your situation is different. But if you need temporary housing these steps will work for you too.
By following these steps, you can set up your own furnished apartment like a BOSS.
Step 1, Find A Short-Term Rental
When you’re setting up your own furnished apartment, it can be difficult to find an apartment community that will offer a short-term lease. That is especially true during a high-demand season like summer. However, there are some communities that will allow lease terms as short as three or six months. It just requires some searching to find them.
Be aware though, those short-term rentals never come cheap. In order to secure the lease, you will be paying a hefty premium.
Step 2, Sign The Lease And Pay Fees
Once you’ve selected an apartment that matches your needs, it is time to pay your deposit and application fee, then sign the lease.
When reviewing the lease, be sure to note a few things.
- What are the extra fees associated with your apartment? Some high-end communities charge monthly fees for access to amenities. Or water and trash may be variable expenses that are charged with your rent.
- Is parking included, or do you need to rent a parking space? Apartments in suburban areas will usually provide free parking, but downtown communities typically require you to rent a space in their parking garage. Policies vary though, so be sure to ask.
- Are a washer and dryer included, or will you need to rent them separately? At Furniture Options, washers and dryers can be added to your furniture rental contract.
- When does the lease end? Sometimes it ends on the same day of the month that the lease started. Other times, it ends at the end of a month.
- How far in advance do you need to provide notice to vacate? Typically 60 days is required, but it does vary. Sometimes, albeit rarely, you can find a 30-day notice policy. Also, find out if the notice has to be submitted before the first of the month. It is easy to get tripped up and have to pay for an extra month at the end of your lease if you submit your notice a few days late.
- What is the policy if you need to extend at the end of your lease? Find out if you will be able to go month-to-month, or if you will have to extend your lease several months at a time.
Step 3, Rent Your Furniture And Housewares
When you think of furniture rental for your temporary housing, do not think rent-to-own.
Companies like Furniture Options that provide rental furniture for temporary housing, are completely different animals.
You can learn more about those differences in our article, Rent-To-Own Or Subscription Furniture? Substantial Differences You Need To Know About.
At Furniture Options, you can rent by the piece, or you can get a package that will include coordinating living room, dining room, and bedroom furniture.
Depending on the package you choose, you can rent just the essentials, or upgrade to a package that includes higher-quality pieces or artwork, and other accessories.
Depending on how much you want to provide on your own, you may also want to rent the housewares. Furniture Options can provide things like bed linens, towels, dishes, and cookware. You can also add on electronics, rugs, cleaning tools, and washer & dryer sets.
Step 4, Set Up Utilities
Once your lease is signed, you will need to call the utility companies to set up services.
Your leasing agent will tell you which services you need to set up and the companies that provide them.
Make sure to do this right away after your lease is signed. Gas and electric usually just require a phone call to change the billing over to your name. However, setting up cable and Internet can be challenging.
If I can make a recommendation here, I would suggest that you set up Internet service only (no cable) for your temporary housing.
Cable often requires a long-term contract, but Internet service is more often available on a month-to-month agreement. So save yourself some money and headaches by skipping the cable. Then rent a smart TV with your furniture package. That way you can get your entertainment fix with streaming services like Netflix or Hulu.
Step 5, Get Insurance
Apartment communities and your furniture rental company require that you have adequate insurance to cover any damages.
If you are already a homeowner, you may have a policy that will cover you in a short-term rental.
However, Brad Henry, an American Family agent in Kansas City says, “it’s a good idea to get an additional renter’s insurance policy. They are very inexpensive, and it will give you that extra peace of mind that everything is covered.”
Before moving into your temporary housing, be sure to check with your insurance agent and find out what they recommend for your particular situation.
Step 6, Paying Your Rent
When it comes to paying your rent, most apartment communities offer online payment options.
It is easy to set up so that payments are automatically charged to your credit card or come out of your bank account. Taking advantage of this option will ensure that your rent is never paid late—trust me, you do not want to pay the severe late fees that apartment communities charge.
That said, be sure to log in to your account before your payment is processed each month. It is not uncommon for payments or incentives to be credited incorrectly. And it is often difficult to get it corrected after the payment has been processed.
Step 7, Giving Notice To Vacate
When it comes time to move out, be sure you give proper notice to the apartment community.
As I mentioned in Step 2, each community will have a different process for giving notice, and it is important that you understand their policy. I recommend setting a reminder on your calendar of when notice is due, so you don’t forget. Or, just notify the leasing office as soon as your move-out date is determined.
If you need to extend your lease at the end of the term, be aware that you may not be able to end your lease exactly when you want. You could be required to extend several months past your projected move-out date.
If the community offers a month-to-month option after your initial lease term, it is usually quite expensive. Sometimes even double what your regular monthly rent had been. So keep that in mind if your end date is not firm.
DIY Temporary Housing Can Be Done
As you weigh your options for temporary housing, a furnished apartment is definitely the most comfortable way to go. By following these expert steps, you can avoid the hidden pitfalls of a short-term rental. And you can create a beautiful and homey environment with furniture and houseware rentals from Furniture Options.
To find out more about the furniture rental packages offered at Furniture Options explore our website. Or stop by a showroom in your area to speak to one of our consultants, and take the furniture for a test drive… er, sit.
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