When it comes to furnished apartments Washington DC must have more than any other city on earth, I have literally never seen as many furnished places up for rent. I understand the appeal of a furnished apartment from the owners point of view, but always less so from the renter’s perspective. Nonetheless I wanted to write a few bits and pieces to help you to find the right place with a rented apartment. I have spoken to so many here in the city who felt that they made the wrong choice and from their experience I wanted to offer these tips.
Table of Contents
Contract Length
Something which you must avoid doing is signing up for a 12 month contract if you can help it. The reason for this is quite simple, those furnishings may look great right now, but they can get tried pretty quickly and many homeowners then do not want you to do anything to the place, which means that you are then locked in for a long time, in a place which you are not happy about. Sign a contract for 6 months if you can, with an agreement that it may be 12.
Simplicity
Bold colors and loud designs are often what bring more clients in, because on the face of it there is a real attraction there. Unfortunately however this too loses its novelty pretty quickly and you can easily end up getting sick and tired of the boldness. Make sure that you are looking for a place with a simple design, somewhere that offers soft colors and subtle touches. This type of design has much more longevity than one which is loud and brash.
Freedom
As mentioned, most owners of these kind of properties prefer that you don’t do anything inside the place at all, because of the fact that it is furnished. The truth is however that you have to have some level of creative freedom inside the property, to at least give it some important personal touches. Ask before you get into the place what the rules are around your painting or hanging things on the walls.
Quality of the Furnishings
No matter how great the place looks on photos you have to actually go and see the property before moving in. When you do, instead of just giving the place a look over, make sure that you are checking out the quality of the furnishings which are there. Many look to cut corners here and that means that you run the risk of living in a place with poor quality furniture and that will be a problem. There is nothing wrong with giving the furniture the once over before you decide whether or not it is for you.
A furnished apartment certainly has its benefits and if this is what you are going to be looking for then these are some very key points to bear in mind. Always be sure to check every aspect of a property such as this.
