Renting furniture is the new revolution

RENT or purchase? When it comes to choosing and furnishing a living space, it is a question young people often ask themselves as they begin establishing their personal as well as professional lives.

Buying everything that you need in your house seems like a great option but, with time, this perception is changing. Renting is said to be the new way of living for millennials.

According to a survey of 1000 students living away from their homes, 7 out of 10 preferred to order their furniture on rent and even home appliances instead of purchasing everything. Why? Well, due to the nature of their jobs, millennials most often seek mobility and do not want to stick to one geography. They go where their jobs take them.

Instead, they are now more focused on their jobs and look for financial freedom rather than buying everything and getting ownership of assets.

While this is an international trend at the moment, we can be sure to expect it to eventually trickle down to South Africa soon.

There are various companies that do offer furniture rentals, specifically for those relocating to the country after years abroad.

Here are the reasons why renting is the new revolution among millennials:

Easier on pockets

You know how much a single piece of furniture can cost. And if you are furnishing your place from scratch, purchasing every item of furniture can take a huge toll on the budget.

The down payment itself is a big deal. Therefore, renting is the most preferred option.

Taking the furniture on rent involves no huge down payment or huge investments. There's a nominal monthly fee which even students can pay. Therefore, millennials prefer a small monthly rent for the things that they need.

It’s a perfect option for students as well. If they are living on a sharing basis, even this monthly rent of both the furniture and the home appliances can be divided.

Easier to move

When you’ve purchased everything, you either have to tag everything along with you wherever you move (which is hard and involves huge pick-up and delivery costs) or you have to sell (which is hard because you have to find the buyer and wait for the things to get sold).

With renting, moving out and settling into any place becomes easy. There’s no headache of searching for sellers and selling everything or packing everything and moving everything to the new place.

Freedom to upgrade

Owning furniture is a long-term investment. No one would be willing to invest that big an amount to change the furniture every six months or so.

Buying furniture means you are stuck with it for years. And what if when you moving out of a place but don’t want the same furniture or home appliance at your new place?

What if there are some new models of furniture or appliances that you want but you restrain yourself due to the budget? With renting, you have this option. This is also the main reason why millennials prefer renting over purchasing.

Don't like to keep the same piece of furniture for more than six months? Change it! A great option, right? With rentals, there is the freedom to upgrade to newer or fancier models because there is no heavy investment or loss involved.

New place, new furniture, new ambience. Sounds great, right?