Could Your Investment Property Earn More?
Could Your Investment Property Earn More?
A flexible rental strategy for Perth property owners
A traditional unfurnished lease isn’t the only way to generate income from an investment property.
For some owners, furnishing the property and targeting one-to-three-month stays, longer furnished tenancies or a mix of short and medium-term bookings can create greater flexibility and potentially improve gross rental returns.
ScarbStays is seeing demand from guests looking for furnished accommodation for weeks or months at a time — including people relocating to Perth, working temporarily in the city, renovating, between homes or staying for an extended period.
Whether your property is already furnished or currently operating as a conventional rental, we can help you explore whether a different approach could be suitable.
The middle ground between traditional renting and Airbnb
Property owners are often presented with two obvious choices:
Lease the property unfurnished for six or twelve months, or
furnish it and operate it as high-turnover short-stay accommodation.
But there are other options.
A furnished property can potentially be used for:
- one-to-three-month stays
- relocation and corporate accommodation
- longer furnished residential tenancies
- traditional short stays during selected periods
- or a combination of different strategies throughout the year
For the right property, this can provide a useful balance between income, flexibility and workload.
Your property doesn’t need to be furnished today
If your investment property is currently rented unfurnished, that doesn’t rule out a different strategy in future.
Furnishing an existing property can open it up to a different group of guests and tenants who are willing to pay for:
- a home that is ready to move into
- furniture and household essentials
- Wi-Fi and utilities
- greater flexibility
- shorter commitments
- the convenience of avoiding furniture purchases, utility connections and long leases
Unlike a major renovation, furnishing is also a relatively straightforward way of repositioning an existing property without fundamentally changing the property itself.
Of course, there is an upfront cost, and furnished accommodation comes with additional expenses. The question is not simply “Can I charge more?”
It is:
After furnishing and operating costs, could a different rental strategy produce a better return or give me greater flexibility?
Could furnishing improve the return?
A conventional tenant generally provides their own furniture and pays their own utilities.
With furnished accommodation, an owner may be able to charge a premium because the guest is receiving considerably more than an empty property.
That premium needs to be weighed against costs such as:
- furniture and household setup
- utilities
- internet
- insurance
- cleaning
- linen and consumables
- vacancy between bookings
- maintenance and replacement of household items
The right strategy will depend on the individual property, its location, furnishing costs, likely demand and how involved you want to be.
For some properties, traditional renting will still be the best option.
For others, furnishing the property may create a significantly more flexible and potentially higher-yielding asset.
Three different ways to use your investment property
| Traditional rental | Nightly short stay | Furnished medium stay | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical stay | 6–12+ months | Days/weeks | 1–3+ months |
| Furnished | Usually no | Yes | Yes |
| Turnovers | Very low | High | Low |
| Cleaning | Minimal | Frequent | Much less frequent |
| Owner flexibility | Lower during tenancy | High | Moderate–high |
| Income model | Fixed weekly rent | Higher nightly potential | Potential furnished premium |
| Guest communication | Low | High | Lower than nightly hosting |
| Utilities | Usually tenant-paid | Usually owner-paid | Usually included |
There is no single model that is best for every property.
Nightly short-stay accommodation can achieve attractive rates during strong periods. Traditional renting provides simplicity and longer-term certainty. Furnished medium-term accommodation can provide a useful middle ground.
Why longer furnished stays can appeal to landlords
Fewer turnovers
A guest staying for eight weeks might require one check-in, one checkout and one final clean.
Over the same period, a high-turnover Airbnb could involve numerous reservations, cleans, linen changes and guest arrivals.
Less day-to-day involvement
Longer bookings generally mean fewer:
- check-ins and check-outs
- cleaning appointments
- linen changes
- guest messages
- consumable restocking visits
- gaps between bookings
That can make furnished accommodation much easier to operate than a constant stream of two- or three-night bookings.
More predictable occupancy
Once a longer booking is confirmed, you have greater certainty around both occupancy and income for that period.
Help fill quieter periods
Longer bookings can also provide useful occupancy when short-stay demand is softer.
Rather than discounting dozens of individual nights, one longer guest may occupy the property for much of the quieter period.
Greater flexibility than another long lease
Some owners simply don’t want to commit a property to another twelve-month lease.
You may be considering selling, renovating, moving into the property yourself or simply wanting greater control over future availability.
A furnished strategy can provide more options.
A flexible hybrid strategy
You don’t necessarily have to choose one model for the whole year
One of the most interesting options for some owners is to operate the property differently at different times of the year.
For example:
High-demand periods
Make the property available for traditional short-stay accommodation when nightly rates and demand are strongest.
Other periods
Move towards longer furnished stays or an appropriate longer residential tenancy when lower turnover and more predictable occupancy are preferable.
For metropolitan Perth properties, there is currently a planning exemption allowing qualifying unhosted STRA to operate for a limited number of nights each registration year without development approval, although STRA registration and other requirements still apply.
This creates the potential for a strategy broadly along the lines of:
Peak periods: short-stay accommodation
Other periods: longer furnished accommodation
This may allow an owner to capture stronger short-stay periods without necessarily operating a high-turnover Airbnb for twelve months of the year.
Longer residential tenancies can fall under a different regulatory framework from short-term accommodation, so the exact structure needs to be appropriate for the length and nature of the stay.
Property owners should confirm the planning, STRA, tenancy, strata and insurance requirements applying to their individual property before changing how it is used.
An example
Traditional rental
$700/week
Unfurnished
Tenant pays utilities
Low operating involvement
versus:
Furnished medium-term accommodation
Higher weekly/monthly rate e.g. $1200/week for a one-bedroom apartment
Furniture supplied
Utilities/Wi-Fi usually included
More flexibility
More operating costs
Potentially higher gross yield
The better option depends on the property, location, furnishing cost, demand and how hands-on you want to be.
Who is looking for furnished accommodation for weeks or months?
ScarbStays is already seeing enquiries from people who aren’t necessarily looking for a traditional holiday rental.
People relocating to Perth
Someone moving interstate or internationally may need somewhere for several weeks while looking for a permanent home.
Professionals working temporarily in Perth
Project workers, contractors and other professionals may need furnished accommodation for one, two or three months.
People renovating or between homes
Settlement timing, building delays and renovations can create a need for temporary accommodation.
Extended family visits
Some guests want a proper home for several weeks or months rather than living in a hotel.
People testing an area before moving permanently
A longer furnished stay can allow someone to experience an area before committing to a permanent home.
These are precisely the kinds of enquiries we want to match with suitable ScarbStays partner properties.
Do you need to become a full-time Airbnb host?
No.
The objective doesn’t have to be filling your calendar with weekend bookings.
ScarbStays is particularly interested in owners who are open to one-to-three-month stays, longer furnished accommodation or a mixture of short and longer bookings.
You retain control over:
- when your property is available
- the rates you charge
- which guests you accept
- your minimum stay
- how the property is managed
If we receive a suitable enquiry, you decide whether you want the booking.
How ScarbStays can help
ScarbStays already attracts guests looking for furnished accommodation in Scarborough and Perth.
We’re now building a network of quality partner properties so that when our own accommodation isn’t available or isn’t the right fit, we can help connect those guests with other suitable properties.
You continue to control and manage your own property.
ScarbStays is not looking to take over your day-to-day operations, cleaning or guest management.
Already operating furnished or short-stay accommodation?
Not sure whether your property would work?
We can help you explore the options
You may have:
- an existing long-term rental
- a property becoming vacant soon
- a recently purchased investment property
- an unfurnished property you would consider furnishing
- an existing Airbnb you’d like to operate differently
- or simply an interest in improving your property’s rental return
You don’t need to have decided on a strategy before contacting us.
ScarbStays offer one-off property and hosting consultations to help owners assess options such as traditional renting, furnished medium-term accommodation and short-stay hosting without committing to ongoing property management.
Prefer to self-manage but want some help?
You don’t need a full-service property manager to benefit from our experience. ScarbStays is also developing one-off consulting and practical host resources for owners who want to manage their own accommodation effectively.
Whether you’re setting up your first short-stay property or looking to improve an existing one, we can help with the systems behind the scenes; from cleaners and guest communication to software, automation, inventory, pricing and guidebooks.
Need help getting your property ready?
If you’re new to short-stay accommodation, or considering furnishing your property, or already hosting but feel your setup could be improved, ScarbStays can also provide practical one-off support.
We’re developing two options for hosts who want to continue managing their own property:
One-off host consultation
A practical review of your property, listing and current setup, with recommendations around pricing, minimum stays, guest communication, cleaning, automation, software and day-to-day operations. Ideal for new hosts or existing hosts who want a second opinion without committing to ongoing property management.
ScarbStays successful short-stay Host Pack
Prefer to do it yourself? Our upcoming host pack will bring together the systems and templates we use to operate furnished accommodation, including guest message templates, cleaner checklists, inventory and restocking guides, guidebook templates, software recommendations, automation ideas, operational checklists and more.
The pack is planned to include resources such as:
- furnishing and property setup checklists
- complete household inventory lists
- guest message templates
- cleaner onboarding documents
- turnover checklists
- guidebook templates
- software recommendations
- automation ideas
- pricing and minimum-stay guidance
- maintenance processes
- remote-hosting systems
- WA short-stay setup guidance
Medium and longer-stay resources
We’re also exploring additional resources specifically for owners targeting longer furnished stays, including:
- longer-stay pricing
- extended-stay guest communications
- utilities and inclusions
- appropriate cleaning frequency
- furnishing and inventory for longer stays
- moving between short and medium-term bookings
- managing a hybrid rental strategy
- preparing a property for longer occupancy
Could your property be suitable?
Tell us a little about your property and what you’re considering
You don’t need to already have a furnished property, an Airbnb listing or even a final strategy.
We’re interested in hearing from Perth property owners considering:
- furnishing an existing rental
- one-to-three-month furnished stays
- longer furnished accommodation
- Airbnb or short-stay hosting
- a hybrid short/medium-term approach
- or simply whether another rental strategy could generate a better return
Tell us a little about your property and what you’re hoping to achieve.
Looking for property management?
ScarbStays is primarily focused on accommodation referrals rather than full-service property management. However, feel free to get in touch and we can talk more.