At Loftly our focus is on furnished homes. Furnished letting makes the house more attractive for expats and international students, who therefore also pay a higher rent. Three types of renting are possible;

– Unfurnished
– Upholstered (including flooring and window decoration)
– Furnished

Unfurnished
Firstly, there is the option of unfurnished renting. The focus here is on long-term leases for a number of years where tenants must arrange everything themselves. However, candidates for unfurnished rentals are mostly tenants from the Netherlands. The advantage is that you are assured of a fixed rent per month, the disadvantage is that tenants build up rent protection. Therefore, it is more difficult to terminate the contract if desired. In conclusion, this option is less desirable for expats and international students as they often only arrive with a suitcase.

Upholstered
Secondly, with upholstered renting the landlord provides flooring and window decoration. Furthermore, the tenant must provide the furniture himself.

For instance, landlord must arrange the following:
– Flooring (laminate, PVC, parquet, wood). Textile is difficult to keep clean and generally less desirable.
– Curtains + curtain rails
– Every room must have lamps
– Kitchen has equipment
– There is a washing machine (a dryer is very desirable for an expat).

Upholstered homes are particularly interesting for tenants in the Netherlands or expats and international students who are planning to stay here for a longer period of time.

Furnished
Furnished homes are the most interesting for expats and international students. Often these customer segments only come to Rotterdam with a large suitcase full of personal items and clothes and stay here for a certain period of time. This makes it very important for them that a house is fully furnished. In addition to the standard furniture, things like bedding, cutlery, towels, etc. are also provided. In this case the tenant does not have to arrange anything at all. Therefore, we prefer to rent out furnished properties including utilities so that tenants can move in smoothly and the tenant immediately feels at home.

In practice, we often noticed that homes are being furnished. However, this is often done (which may also be logical) according to the owner’s own taste. Above all, try to apply a neutral taste. In general, a Scandinavian style works very well. Moreover, try to decorate the house with some accessories because this makes the tenant feel more at home. Some (fake) plants, paintings or photographs and magazines already add a lot to the homely feeling.

Are there similarities between the duration of the stay and the type of renting?
In conclusion, expats who come here for a short period of time are always looking for furnished homes. The last two years we have seen an increase in the arrival of expatriate families, although the largest group of expats are still singles or couples. Expats who stay here for a longer period of time often look for a furnished short stay home first. After that, they look for an upholstered home where they can stay for a longer period of time. The reason they first rent short stay is because they then can get to know the different neighborhoods.

In addition, shipping your own furniture often takes a number of weeks / months and is not always reimbursed by the company. Hence, upholstered houses are especially popular with expat families who are planning to stay here longer.

It is especially important to deliver a home as complete as possible, whether it is upholstered or furnished. A home should in any case have no defects on arrival. When the tenant actually checks in, we advise you to plan a cleaning shortly before that. We can provide this service as well.