The flat is to be rented furnished. In the cellar there is still a sofa, some shelves and a dining table. That is a start for an inventory, but not yet a coherent housing offer. Before you buy furniture or write the advertisement, you should decide which use you actually want to enable and which fittings you want to maintain in the long term. The following recommendations concern this practical preparation in Austria and Germany. Rent, contract type, permissible term and local use are examined separately by country.
Plan from the intended everyday use
First describe who is likely to use the flat and how. Is it a single household with existing household goods or people who want to bring as little as possible themselves? A particular intended use is a planning assumption, not a promise of a special tenancy status (Mietrechtlicher Status).
Then run through an ordinary day: sleeping, storing clothes, eating, working, washing and cleaning. For each function decide what can reasonably be provided. A bed without suitable storage or a large table that blocks important routes only fulfils the purpose partially. The selection should match the actual flat and not merely the list of items currently available.
Decide between complete furnishing and a clearly described scope
There is no editorial universal list that makes every furnished flat complete. More important is a comprehensible and actually delivered scope of offer. If crockery or textiles are not included, this should be clear before a decision is made. If they are included, they need an orderly place and a clear inventory description.
Create a function list first and then a shopping list. Check what is already present and usable, what would need to be replaced and which purchase would be merely decorative. A restrained, coherent offer can be more practical in everyday life than many delicate individual pieces. This is a design and organisation decision, not a statement about an achievable rent premium.
Subsequent maintenance is part of the fittings concept
Who receives a report about a defective appliance? Where are the model designation and comprehensible operating instructions kept? Can a missing or unusable part be suitably replaced? You should be able to answer these questions before the appliance becomes part of a promised fixture.
For important items note not only the purchase price but also origin, identification and available documentation. Personal access details in networked devices should not be adopted into a new use without checking. A technical configuration or reset will be organised appropriately for the specific system. This article does not contain a device-spanning instruction for that.
Example: A study promises more than it delivers
A fictional landlady wants to present a flat as suitable for mobile working. She has planned a small table in the bedroom. In her own usage walkthrough it becomes clear that after opening a typical brought laptop there is hardly any space left for documents and the chair blocks access to the wardrobe.
She does not merely change the photographic perspective, but checks an actually usable workstation or describes the available space more modestly. Whether a particular internet connection exists and what performance can be agreed specifically is clarified on the basis of real documents. The example does not establish a technical minimum standard or a performance promise for home office.
An offer, an inventory, a handover inventory
Once the selection is finalised, photos, description and inventory should show the same planned stock. If a photographed piece of furniture is not later rented with the flat, the deviation must be made clear before a binding decision. Decoration used only for the photo shoot should not casually appear as included fittings.
For the handover the inventory list can be organised by rooms. Important characteristics and visible signs of use help to recognise specific items again. Such an inventory does not replace a legal assessment of later damage, wear or claims for replacement. It initially records what was actually provided and jointly determined.
Only then determine the legal and economic statements
With the practical concept you can have rent structuring, contract model, insurance and local requirements checked specifically. Complete furnishing does not by its designation alone make a contract a particular legal type of tenancy. This article therefore consciously does not establish a common country rule.
Before the advertisement you should therefore have two outcomes: a usable, maintainable fittings concept and an appropriate professional classification of the specific offer. This prevents a convenient initial disposal of furniture from later continuously creating new explanations, replacement purchases and contradictory promises.