Our world is in a state of flux. We are becoming more mobile and flexible, moving more often. More and more people are taking the opportunity to temporarily move to another location where they can pursue their personal goals. Temporary employment is on the rise, and the number of people commuting is increasing. This also changes the demands on housing. This is clearly reflected in the growing demand for furnished accommodation, as well as the trend toward shorter tenancies. According to our analyses, 1.7 million people in Germany alone have a need for temporary furnished housing every year.
In this article, we’ll give you some insight:
- What is temporary furnished housing?
- Who is going to be at home in your furnished apartment?
- Why are temporary furnished apartments attractive to tenants?
- Find the ideal tenants for your furnished apartment via Wunderflats!
What is temporary furnished housing?
Temporary furnished housing involves renting out fully furnished apartments for a limited period of time, usually one to twelve months. The apartments are equipped with all the basics for a functional everyday life so that the tenants can move in with light luggage and immediately feel at home. From the right bed to sufficient crockery and cutlery, reliable Wi-Fi to spare light bulbs – the tenants should want for nothing. We have put together some tips for the ideal furnishing of an apartment for temporary living with a practical checklist for you.
For rentals via Wunderflats, a flat-rate rent is charged for furnished apartments on a temporary basis, which already includes a furnishing surcharge as well as all operating costs including electricity and Wi-Fi in addition to the apartment rent.
By temporary furnished housing, we refer below to renting for temporary use. This requires a special circumstance, such as a temporary professional obligation, which justifies the temporary rental of an apartment. In this case, the tenants want to move to the rented apartment temporarily, but not permanently, and initiate a temporary rental agreement on their own initiative.
We have summarised all the relevant legal conditions for renting out furnished accommodation on a temporary basis for you here: Temporary furnished rentals: All you need to know about the legal aspects.
Who is going to be at home in your furnished apartment?
At Wunderflats, we can draw on our many years of experience in renting out temporary furnished apartments. Below we give you an insight into who the people are who rent an apartment through our platform.
Qualified specialists from home and abroad
At Wunderflats, highly qualified professionals from all over the world make up the majority of our tenants. Almost 50 % of our tenants rent their furnished apartment for professional reasons.
Of the working Wunderflats tenants, on average about 40 % are employed in IT or engineering, 20 % in management, as founders, executives or in administration, 5 % have a consulting job, 5 % are teachers or professors, 3 % work in the music or media industry and just under 2 % in the medical field.
Urgently needed specialists move to a new city because, for example, they are temporarily sent by their company to another location in order to set up a new department or to support a specific project on a transitional basis. Others work as freelancers on a temporary project. Still others start a new job and use the furnished apartment in their new home to look for their own permanent apartment.
Tenants who move for professional reasons appreciate a separate desk with a comfortable office chair in their furnished apartment. Especially now that home offices are on the rise, a reliable, fast Internet connection is also particularly important for many tenants.
Tenants who move temporarily for private reasons
Besides a job-related move, private reasons can also be decisive for renting a furnished home. These tenants often need a temporary place to stay within the same city, for example, while their apartment is being renovated. Or they have separated from a relationship and use the furnished apartment to reorient themselves. The search for a quiet place to work during home office hours is also a motivation for some to rent a fully furnished apartment. Some retirees use a furnished apartment, for example, to temporarily take care of grandchildren in another city. Still, other tenants temporarily relocate because they are caring for sick relatives.
Our internal data shows that about 40 % of our tenants use their fully equipped apartment as a temporary solution for private purposes.
Students
Thousands of students and trainees from Germany and abroad have already booked an apartment with Wunderflats. Some come to another university for an exchange semester or year. Others are doing an internship or temporary training or further education. On average, students rent an apartment for four to five months, which corresponds to about one semester.
On average, about 7 % of Wunderflats tenants use their furnished apartment for studying, about 3 % for an internship and just less than 1 % are doing an apprenticeship.
For them, a good price-performance ratio is usually the deciding factor when looking for an apartment. Small apartments can therefore also be attractive for this group of tenants. For them, too, having their own desk and reliable Wi-Fi is usually important.
Why are temporary furnished apartments attractive for tenants?
From the tenant’s point of view, there are many arguments in favour of a furnished apartment, especially if they are only temporarily relocating:
Alternative to a hotel stay
Furnished apartments offer a cheaper and more everyday alternative to staying in a hotel. An apartment usually offers more space than a hotel, where sleeping, living and working are usually confined to a single room. For many, spatial separation of the individual living areas is important. A living room and a dining area, for example, make it possible to comfortably receive and entertain visitors. A separate kitchen, in particular, offers many advantages: Tenants can prepare their own meals to suit their tastes and are not dependent on restaurants or canteens. Those who commute regularly can also store personal belongings in a furnished apartment, instead of always taking everything with them when they go home and always having to travel with more luggage.
Alternative to shared apartment
Unlike a room in a shared apartment, where several people share a bathroom, kitchen and possibly a living room, having your own furnished apartment offers more privacy.
In addition, especially in popular university cities, shared rooms are not available in sufficient numbers and therefore there is a lot of competition for them. Smaller furnished apartments can therefore be a good option, especially for students. Furnished apartments in boarding houses also offer an atmosphere similar to that of a student dormitory with many shared facilities.
Alternative to an unfurnished apartment
With a furnished apartment, tenants save the cost of moving and buying a whole set of furniture. Especially if they are only temporarily relocating or frequently changing their place of residence, this would otherwise be a large expense. Many of our tenants appreciate the fact that the apartment is fully furnished and equipped with everything they need to live-saving their time and money. In many circumstances, furnished apartments are a suitable alternative to renting an unfurnished apartment.
Registration of residence (Anmeldung)
Unlike in a hotel, tenants in a furnished apartment can usually register their residence (Anmeldung). This is especially important for tenants from abroad: They need the official registration, for example, to open a bank account or to conclude a mobile phone contract. Only with a registered residence can they also obtain a SCHUFA report, which they need to rent an unfurnished apartment. Therefore, issue your tenants with a confirmation of accommodation upon request.
You can find a form together with further information in our article The confirmation of residence for temporary housing (Wohnungsgeberbestätigung)
Quick online rental
Furnished apartments offer the advantage that they can be booked completely online, as with Wunderflats. Especially for tenants from abroad, it is often difficult or impossible to come to Germany in advance to look for an apartment. You may also need a visa, which is only issued shortly before the trip. Therefore, they often do not have the opportunity for extensive apartment inspections or weeks of personal flat-sharing screenings.
Recent studies have shown that there are often more than 50 requests for an unfurnished apartment, especially in major German cities. By contrast, tenants can book a furnished and fully equipped apartment on-demand online, without having to wait in long inspection queues. With Wunderflats, tenants only need an average of five days from the booking request to the online signing of the rental agreement.
No hidden costs
The all-inclusive rent means that tenants do not incur any additional costs for the apartment apart from the rent. They do not have to sign any additional contracts with electricity or Internet providers, for example, so they can start their daily lives right away. In addition, they have a transparent overview of all costs and do not have to wait for subsequent billing if they use the apartment properly.
Find the ideal tenants for your furnished apartment via Wunderflats!
At Wunderflats, all tenants can find the right apartment, whose furnishings meet their needs and correspond to their taste. We rely on a fully personalised booking process that provides both you as a landlord/-lady and the tenant with all the information and features they need.
We analyse all the information you provide in your apartment listing. This allows us to show your listing first to the tenants most likely to be interested in your apartment. Before signing the agreement, we verify the prospective tenants for you by checking their income and reason for residence.
Read in our article The perfect apartment listing: How to successfully rent out your temporary furnished apartment, how to create a professional listing and find the ideal tenant for your apartment even faster.
Rent out now via Wunderflats. Benefit from our professional rental service and find the ideal tenants for your furnished apartment!
Please note: This article does not constitute legal advice – the contents of this page have been prepared solely for your information. As we act as a platform, we can and may share our assessments, but we cannot provide you with a legally binding recommendation for your own course of action.
