How Do I Find a Furnished Apartment?

You can find a furnished apartment using online rental platforms and search tools for rental listings. Use filters for “furnished rental units” to find available apartments with essential furniture provided.

In this guide, we cover everything you need to know about finding furnished apartments—from understanding what furnished means, to setting your budget, touring units, and applying. We’ll also walk through rental scams to be aware of and watch out for.

What Is a Furnished Apartment?

Fully furnished apartments are apartments that come equipped with pre-installed furniture and applications such as couches, beds, and kitchen necessities. However, the exact furnishings can vary from apartment to apartment. These can range from appliances to typical living furniture, such as beds, sofas, and dressers. And if you find a real gem, the apartment might come fully furnished and decorated.

How Can You Find a Furnished Apartment?

Finding furnished apartments is as simple as searching the Internet. Yes, finding the right apartment with the best amenities and other features can be challenging and time-consuming. However, depending on your location, there should be plenty of options to choose from.

Here’s how to search for a furnished apartment:

Search for a Furnished Apartment Using Online Rental Platforms

Online apartment listings are the best way to find pre-furnished rentals. Popular listing sites, such as Apartment List, offer renters an easy way to search for these types of units. Using the online filters, select “furnished” in the amenities categories, and you’re in business.

Furnished listings will likely offer different pieces of furniture in the apartment, so be sure to check what each unit offers.

Check Short-Term Rental Platforms

Short-term or month-to-month rentals often come with furnishing, making them a great place to search for rentals. While prices tend to be higher, that’s typically because they’re offering more amenities—more than just the furniture. Additions like Wi-Fi, cleaning services, and inclusive utilities are common in short-term rentals.

If you’re relocating temporarily for a job, studying abroad, or experimenting with a move to a new city, short-term rentals can save you time and money.

Join Social Media Groups

Social media platforms like Facebook often have city-specific groups where renters can search for a new place to live. For example, if you’re moving to New York City, you can search “New York City apartments for rent”. Search for terms like “furnished apartment [city]” or “sublet [city]” to find more results.

When joining groups on social media, be cautious of scams and never send money to anyone unless you’ve visited the apartment.

What Are the Pros of Furnished Apartments?

Before you sign on the dotted line, here are the five pros of furnished apartments.

1. Lower Upfront Costs

One of the best parts about moving into an already furnished apartment is that you won’t have to worry about extra costs related to setting up your apartment.

Finding an apartment is one thing, but renters must quickly shift their focus and think about furnishing their new place. And it doesn't come cheap. Buying new items like a bed or sofa right after paying a security deposit gets expensive.

When an apartment is furnished, you don’t have to add these costs to your budget. It makes your first month cheaper and contributes to a lower cost of living. That said, turnkey apartments often have higher rent prices.

2. Easy Moving

Moving into a furnished apartment is simple. You roll in on moving day with your knick-knacks, bric-a-brac, toiletries, and other small essentials, and you’re done!

For those considering a cross-country move, lugging your own furniture across the states can be costly. With a furnished apartment, this concern is eliminated. You don’t have to worry about lifting heavy dressers or bedframes. It’s both a stress reducer and a prevention from causing your body pain.

3. You Can Still Decorate

Some renters may worry that renting a furnished apartment may not feel like their own. While this is a legitimate concern, you can still bring your apartment to life. Yes, the furniture will be out of your hands, but you can decorate the rest of your place how you want.

Find accessories like pillows, small rugs, and decorative items that go along with your new apartment’s furniture instead of wishing you had something of your own. There are plenty of ways to make your apartment feel like yours.

4. Perfect for Short-Term Rentals

Furnished apartments are ideal for individuals who don’t plan to stay in one place for an extended period. Apartment furnishing requires a lot of commitment, and you don’t always know what you can or can’t keep when you move again.

If you’re unsure whether you want to stay in the area long-term or expect to move after a year, furnished apartments make a lot of sense. Whether you are temporarily relocating for work or are unsure of the new city you've moved to, furnished apartments make for great short-term leases.

The same concept goes for first-time apartment renters. If you are moving out for the first time, you probably don't own any furniture. A furnished apartment allows you to live comfortably and save up to furnish your next apartment.

5. Save Time and Reduce Stress

Moving can be stressful, and moving into an empty apartment and needing to furnish it right away adds another layer of stress. With pre-furnished apartments, you can ditch the stress.

They come equipped with most of the essential items you need, meaning you’ll have less to worry about when you move in.

What Are the Cons of Furnished Apartments?

Furnished apartments also come with a few cons, such as worrying about damage and higher rent. Here are the top cons when considering moving to a furnished unit.

1. Rent is (Usually) More Expensive

Furnished apartments typically have higher rents, which makes sense because they’re offering the asset of furniture without you having to purchase it yourself.

Before signing a lease for a furnished apartment, take a moment to assess the rental market. Compare the rental prices of furnished and unfurnished apartments. Furnished units typically have higher rent prices.

The rental market, the amount of furniture you need, and your budget for furniture are all factors to consider. If a furnished apartment costs an extra $100 a month, that's $1,200 for a one-year lease agreement.

Calculate an estimate of how much you'll spend on furniture if moving into a non-furnished apartment. Will $1200 be enough to furnish an empty apartment? Questions like these can help you decide whether a furnished or unfinished apartment is right for you.

2. Worrying About Damages

A common stressor for renters in furnished apartments is the cost of damaging furniture.

Spilling wine on your own couch sucks. Spilling wine on a couch in a furnished apartment can result in you not getting your full security deposit back. What does this mean for renters in furnished apartments? You’ll have to take great care of the items and be extra careful. Before signing your lease, be sure to ask your landlord about the cost of potential damages to the furniture.

3. Quality of Furniture

Just because you’re moving into an apartment that’s furnished doesn’t mean it’ll be furnished to your standards. The materials may be heavily used, damaged, or unclean.

Check with your landlord to identify if the furniture was used in the past and, if so, how heavily. This will give you a better idea of the state of furniture to expect. It's always a good idea to tour the apartment and get a look at the furniture for yourself. The included couch may look great in photos of the living room, but it could be super uncomfortable.

4. You May Have to Downsize

If you have any furniture that you want to use from your previous home or apartment, you may need to consider getting rid of some of it to make space. This is because furniture is already provided to you, so there may not be room for all of the pieces. If this is a problem, try talking to your landlord and determining if they’d remove some of the furnishings that you don’t need.

How to Tour, Apply, and Avoid Scams When Renting Furnished Apartments

How Can You Prepare for Furnished Apartment Tours?

Write down a list of questions, bring your documents with you, and be prepared to discuss the rental with the leasing agent. Apartment tours are the final step in deciding which apartment is best for you. By this time, you’ve narrowed down what you’re looking for in an apartment and where you want to live.

Tours are especially important for furnished apartments. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to examine the furniture and see if it matches your expectations and style.

During your apartment tour, it’s also important to be thorough. Double-check the apartment's condition before committing to a lease agreement. For example, if you notice leaky faucets, dirty carpet, or cracks in the tile, bring these concerns to your prospective landlord's attention immediately after the tour.

Asking questions during your apartment tour is crucial. You can start with information about the maintenance, apartment amenities, and apartment management.

How Can You Apply for a Furnished Apartment?

Submit your apartment application, including any applicable administrative fees, online or via paper application, to be considered for a rental unit.

The purpose of the apartment application is to enable landlords and property managers to determine whether you are a suitable fit for the unit. Typically, a "good fit" will have a solid financial foundation, as demonstrated by your bank statement and credit score, as well as positive recommendations from previous landlords.

If it’s your first time renting, you can submit your supervisor or colleagues as someone to vouch for how responsible you are. If you don’t have the best credit score or no credit history, it is possible to rent with bad credit.

Review your apartment application one last time before submitting it. Then you play the waiting game. If a landlord or real estate agent doesn’t get back to you right away, don’t hesitate to contact them.

How Can You Protect Yourself from Rental Scams?

You can protect yourself from rental scams by never sending money unless you’ve had an in-person or verified virtual tour. When apartment hunting, remember to verify that you are speaking with the property manager or apartment leasing office. Never use cash or money wiring services, such as Cash App, Venmo, or PayPal. Whenever you make a rental payment or even a security deposit, you want to ensure that the transaction is traceable through your bank.

Scams have become all too common. Unfortunately, rental scammers have a high rate of success, with over $5.2 million in rental fraud losses reported by victims.

When’s the Best Time to Find Furnished Apartments?

There are two ideal times to find furnished apartments: for lower rents, search during the winter months, and for more available apartments, search during the summer months.

When it comes to apartment hunting, there are seasonal trends. If it’s more ideal to choose from the largest selection of apartments, you should start your search in the summer when apartment searches peak just before the move-outs peak in August. As move-outs increase, you'll have an excellent selection of apartments to choose from.

In short, the best time to rent depends on your goals.

Frequently Asked Questions About Finding Furnished Apartments

Is a furnished apartment right for me?

Furnished apartments are ideal for renters who don’t want to purchase furniture, don’t want the hassle of moving bulky items, or those living in an area for a short period of time.

Is it worth it to rent a furnished apartment?

Furnished apartments are convenient options for renters who want flexibility. Whether or not a fully furnished apartment is right for you depends on your lifestyle and preferences.

How do I know if an apartment comes furnished or not?

When searching for apartments, read the listing and search for the term furnished or unfurnished. This will tell you if a rental unit has furniture available when you move in.

Is it cheaper to rent unfurnished?

Yes, it is usually cheaper to rent an unfurnished apartment because the rental company or landlord is not providing the furniture.

How much more do fully furnished apartments cost?

Furnished apartments can cost anywhere between 15% to 50% more than an unfurnished rental.

How much rent can I afford when searching for furnished apartments?

First, determine how much rent you can afford to pay each month with budgeting tools like the 30% rule. Most experts recommend using the 30% rule, which states that you should set aside 30% (or less) of your pre-tax income to cover housing costs, like rent.

If math isn’t your thing, you can skip it and use our rent calculator to determine how much you can afford to pay in rent each month.