Mid-term rental start-up costs

[Rik Hunter]

We're converting a long-term rental to a mid-term rental. It's our first go at this, and I'm being conservative with my numbers, like expecting as much as 3 months vacancy and including that in the cashflow calculation. 

What's greatly reducing my monthly cashflow is spreading the start-up/furnishing costs across 12 months. That is, my cashflow is $42/month after spreading the furnishing costs across the first 12 months (as a result, next year's cashflow will be huge). Any particular reason to use 12 months versus 24, 36, 48, etc.? 

Maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better about the sudden drop in my property's bank account!