Furnishing Rentals from Long Distance

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Furnishing Rentals from Long Distance

Eian Trenkle
New to Real Estate · Long Island · Member since 2022 · 3 posts · 2 votes

Hello,

How do you typically go about furnishing a mid to short term rental while being completely remote? Has anyone used Wayfair and their design services? 

I have seen people hiring designers from out of country for around $10/hour then have a handyman assemble and arrange the furniture from pictures which sounds feasible.

Any suggestions?


Thanks

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Yiwei Cheng
Investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2023 · 139 posts · 81 votes
2y

I manage & do all of the setups because I'm local. As a manager, I would recommend that you hire someone locally to do the design & furnish & install. It takes a lot to design, get the deliveries, put everything together, and make sure it's ready for guests. There are a lot of details there to create a great STR. A STR focused designer would be ideal too. I know there are services who will do that in multiple parts of the country like Showplace, but you can also find someone small locally. It's important to find people you trust to do it right because I can't tell you how many times we've taken on properties and the furniture weren't set up correctly/things are falling off.

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  • Denver McClurePro Member
    Financial Advisor · Flower Mound, TX · Member since 2018 · 661 posts · 479 votes
    2y

    Hey @Eian Trenkle, I'm actually dealing with the same issue on a STR of my own. Our PM has Wayfair reps that can help with design, but you'll want to make sure you get the white glove service from them to assemble for free. Either way you'll need a local PM or designer to make sure everything is laid out properly if you can't oversee it yourself. Contractors/Handymen usually aren't to great with design lol.

    Feel free to reach out. Maybe we can share strategies!

    [email protected]
    1Reply
  • Yiwei Cheng
    Investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2023 · 139 posts · 81 votes
    2y

    I manage & do all of the setups because I'm local. As a manager, I would recommend that you hire someone locally to do the design & furnish & install. It takes a lot to design, get the deliveries, put everything together, and make sure it's ready for guests. There are a lot of details there to create a great STR. A STR focused designer would be ideal too. I know there are services who will do that in multiple parts of the country like Showplace, but you can also find someone small locally. It's important to find people you trust to do it right because I can't tell you how many times we've taken on properties and the furniture weren't set up correctly/things are falling off.

    2Reply
  • Andrew SteffensBusiness Member
    Tampa, FL · Member since 2022 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    2y

    We had a recent bad experience with a company offering to do the whole set up.  Your best bet is hire a local designer.  Even if you offshore it, the deliveries will be a nightmare unfortunately.

    [email protected]813-563-0877
    Vacation Rentals of Florida53 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
  • Jon Martin
    Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    2y

    You need some kind of point person. No way around it. If you can't fly out there yourself, maybe you have a younger cousin, niece/nephew or family friend's kid that can post up and take deliveries. By the time you have 1 STR running you should have a handyman or cleaner that you can trust, but in the early stages you have to put a lot of trust in a stranger if you can't do it yourself.

    Optimize for assembly and consolidate your vendors/shipments as much as possible. That $50-100 nightstand will cost 2-3X+ more once you factor in the labor for someone to assemble it, multiplied by 2 for every bedroom. I cringe when I hear people talk about ordering stuff from Ikea and then complaining about how long it takes to assemble, plus that stuff is prone to break sooner on top of that. Look at the instruction manual- some of those things have 50-60+ hardware pieces. Plus you lose that time that could be spent getting the rest of the house put together. You can use Wayfair to filter for assembly- use it! With pre-assembled you could have all the furniture place in a single day. Cleaners should be able to wash dishes, make beds and other misc soft set up work. 

    Another pro tip- right click on the photo in Chrome and do a reverse image search to see where the item comes from, it is usually way cheaper, and that's probably who Wayfair drop ships it from anyway. 

    1Reply
  • Sarah KensingerPro Member
    Real Estate Consultant · OH · Member since 2023 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    2y

    I would also just hire a designer if you can't set-up the property. Good chance you'll have a STR set-up twice as fast anyway.

    Wayfair and other similar companies do have white glove service, but you would still need to do all the little details and arranging of furniture. 

    [email protected]330-557-3021
    1Reply
  • Toni Escuder
    Interior Decorator · Charlotte NC · Member since 2022 · 48 posts · 32 votes
    2y

    Where is your property located? This part of the process is challenging and you'll need local resources if trying to go it on your own. You can hire a STR furnishing company, but make sure you look into them carefully. A lot of these companies are claiming to offer this service, but are really just ordering retail and trying to hire out folks to do the local work for them. Ask the hard questions about how their process works and what benefits you get as a customer.

    1Reply
  • Eian Trenkle
    OP
    New to Real Estate · Long Island · Member since 2022 · 3 posts · 2 votes
    2y

    Appreciate the response, seems like hiring a local designer is the consensus and makes a lot of sense. 

    1Reply
  • Eian Trenkle
    OP
    New to Real Estate · Long Island · Member since 2022 · 3 posts · 2 votes
    2y

    Any tips / tricks anyone uses when looking at furnishing designs? Would looking at the surrounding rentals be a good place to start? Looking for a starting point so I can have an idea of what I want for the local designer.

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  • Toni Escuder
    Interior Decorator · Charlotte NC · Member since 2022 · 48 posts · 32 votes
    2y
    Quote from @Eian Trenkle:

    Any tips / tricks anyone uses when looking at furnishing designs? Would looking at the surrounding rentals be a good place to start? Looking for a starting point so I can have an idea of what I want for the local designer.

    I would say have a realistic sense of your budget for the project. Presumably you’ve run the numbers so you should have a ballpark in mind.  Saying nothing doesn’t really help you or the designer. The designer should have a good sense of what to do with your place since they are an expert in this field so I don’t think it’s worthwhile to hunt around for styles you like. 

    space planning and layout will be an important first step. Have an idea from that perspective of what will get you the rates you need (ie., number and sizes of beds, etc.) 
    1Reply
  • Annie Seurer
    Investor · West Palm Beach, FL · Member since 2024 · 90 posts · 47 votes
    2y

    I would not skimp on design, construction, and procurement. Use a professional that buys the right furnishings (nice, but not too nice), and a design company that knows and specializes in STR's. Unfortunately, no longer can owners do the bare minimum and expect good returns. If you really want to outperform your competition, look to amenities and stand out in the crowd. There are a few companies that do everything for you, from design, procurement, construction to furnishing the house. Feel free to reach out for more info and good luck!

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