As an Apartment Resident, which makes more sense, renting furniture or buying it? Here we present the pros and cons of both.
Living in an apartment definitely has it’s added benefits as compared to living in an independent setup. If you live in an apartment (or are planning on living in one eventually), you have a lot of things that are already sorted out for you without having to break your head on how to get things in place.
After all, it’s super convenient to come home to a host of amenities and always have people around to take care of everything, from fixes to security. However, all this ease comes at a slightly higher cost.
Let’s break this down, shall we? If you’re renting an apartment, the cost of the rent itself ( plus deposit) is generally on the higher side as compared to independent houses. And if you own the apartment, a huge sum of money has been spent on buying the house. Now add to that the cost of furnishing your home, maintenance, and your routine expenses, the budget’s probably off the ceiling by now.
And furniture costs just adds up to the list of mounting costs, adding to the mess one is already in!
Renting Your Furniture In An Apartment. How Does it Help?
Furnishing a new apartment can get a little tricky sometimes. Especially if you’ve just spent a whole lot of money on the deposit. And if you choose to buy your furniture, you’re depleting your investments further. Additionally, you might end up compromising on quality to match your budget. Many furniture rental companies have come up in recent years which helps in this regard. You can rent some great looking furniture, at a reasonable cost.
With renting, some of the benefits you get are:
- Time Investment Required is much less: With hectic schedules already being a major hassle, one doesn’t have to put in a lot of time to choose the right furniture.
- Monetary Investment is less: The money which gets tied up in furniture is freed up for other activities or investments
- Maintenance is easy: With renting, maintenance isn’t a chore one has to worry about. Maintenance is taken care by rental agencies.
- Great Choices at reasonable cost: Most rentals offer a lot of choices which one can choose from, and all this comes at a reasonable monthly or quarterly contract.
- Change is Easy: Changing to a new set of furniture is easy. Such is not the case if you are buying your furniture.
Rajiv Singh, an IT professional comments, “I have been moving in and out of the country often for the last few years, given the nature of my job. In many previous occasions, I had bought furniture with a huge investment for my apartment where I was staying on rent, only to sell it at a fraction of the cost. Renting furniture is definitely the way to go for me”
When should you opt for buying your own furniture?
Buying furniture also has its own advantages.
- Long-Term Benefit: In case one has settled down in a particular apartment/villa and plan to live there for a long time, then buying furniture makes more financial sense in the long run, than renting furniture
- Choices Available are More: Many apartment residents are particular about the type of furniture which they want for their apartments. In such a case, opting to buy presents more options to choose from. Many apartment owners also opt for getting furniture custom made by carpenters.
- Damage is at one’s own cost: Using rented furniture, there is always the extra care which one has to take to maintain it properly. Any damage would invite penalty from the rental vendor.
- The Sense of Belonging: This is more a psychological factor than anything else. Buying one’s own furniture has a sense belonging attached to it. An attachment which you would only have to something you know to be yours.
“My furniture is kind of an extension of myself. I like to get furniture which suits my particular taste. I typically don’t get such choice in rentals. Buying furniture is a one-time investment which I love to indulge in,” says Vanee Badgujar, an Apartment Resident in Bangalore.
Which option would you choose? Would you buy furniture or opt to rent furniture when you move in to your next apartment or villa? Let us know your opinion in the comments section below.