How I furnished my entire investment apartment for less than $1000

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There is nothing like the satisfaction of signing on the dotted line and finally entering the property market and furnishing it for a fraction of the usual amount.

I was going to live in my one-bedroom apartment only short-term before it would become my investment property in Australia when I was to head overseas. My only predicament was how much to spend on furniture if I was going to rent it out not long after my live-in stint?

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I did the maths and saw the benefits of renting the apartment fully furnished. 

Would I be taking my furniture down three flights of stairs only months later or should I lease the apartment with the furniture to save all the hassle, and legwork?

My real estate agent had advised me that if my apartment was fully furnished – TV included – I could attract up to an extra $35 a week in rental income. I did the maths and saw the benefits of renting the apartment fully furnished.

“Furnished apartments are obviously being sought-after to assist with ease of re-location and have been the most popular, especially in the inner-city market which we service,” Arena Real Estate senior property manager Andrew Wood told Domain.

“This gives the tenant the security of moving into a property and all they need to bring in is their suitcase with makes them very appealing.”

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Agents say a television is critical in a furnished apartment.  Crib Creative

According to Mr Wood, people on work contracts or staying short-term from overseas look at fully furnished apartments for a stress-free move without having to step foot into a furniture store.

“Someone who is looking to rent a furnished property would normally not want to purchase any furniture,” he said. “It would be a cost for them to purchase it initially, then a burden again to sell it once they move on.”

Wood said some furnishings were considered essential by tenants, and it was better to supply more rather than less. “By taking away some of the furnishings, specifically a TV, you would be narrowing down the target market as people would be less likely to look for a partly furnished property.”

Not wanting to spend a fortune on furniture that I would not use in the long term, I used my savvy buying ways and hunted online to see what bedroom, kitchen and lounge items I could scoop up for a bargain price.

I decided to set myself a goal of furnishing my 44-square-metre apartment for under $1000.

Where to find bargain furniture online

I could have scoped out cheap furniture, but I wanted my apartment to have a relaxed allure.

I already had a bed, fridge, wardrobe and kitchen utensils to bring to the apartment, but I needed some extras to make it a place to call home.

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Affordable pieces and simple styling can improve appeal to tenants.  Crib Creative

To achieve my goal of furnishing the apartment for under $1000, I searched for furniture on online marketplaces and local second-hand stores.

What I learnt is Facebook Marketplace reigns supreme when it comes to buying second-hand furniture. The social marketplace allows you to have a better idea of who is selling the item and see where the item is roughly located within cities.

It also includes a checklist of automated questions readily available to tap and send without the need to type, such as “Is this item still available?” Answers from sellers can sometimes be almost instantaneous.

Using Facebook Marketplace saved me flat-pack construction work four times over with the purchase of a near-new console stand, tallboy and two bedside tables altogether for $215.

Established online marketplace Gumtree was also beneficial to my cheap furnishing crusade, scouting the expansive marketplace for durable furniture items. I managed to locate a six-month-old, as-new Ikea couch for a measly $350, less than half the $800 it would have cost new.

My local Australian Red Cross second-hand store was a hit for my kitchen with the purchase of two vintage dining room chairs at $5 a pop. It also proved to be a treasure trove of household goods, with a world map canvas painting picked up for $20.

The result

I managed to achieve my goal of furnishing the apartment for under $1000. It made financial sense to furnish the apartment with the additional rental income paying off my investment within a few months. And the apartment looks great too.

Furniture Checklist

Kitchen

Bedroom

Lounge

Total: $918

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