What is your favorite/cheapest way to get furniture for your STR?

Question

Hey Everyone!

I love buying a lot of furniture for a bargain. As we all know, there is nothing like a good deal. What are some of your favorite ways to cut your furnishing costs?

Here are my three favorite ways: Re-use/Secondhand furniture stores, garage sales, estate auctions.

Paul Sandhu · Answer

Estate auctions. There is a newspaper that comes out every Wednesday, there is a section that lists all the estate auctions going on that weekend. When we are furnishing a house, we need the 4 major appliances plus living room and bedroom furniture. My wife takes her truck, I take my truck with a 16' trailer and an appliance dolly. We can have 75% of what we need by 1:00 in the afternoon. The other 25% comes from WalMart.

One of the auctioneers comes to my house for Ducks Unlimited meetings. We shoot guns and drink beer while planning a fundraising banquet. He's also the auctioneer at the banquet.

One of the auctioneers comes to my house for Ducks Unlimited meetings. We shoot guns and drink beer while planning a fundraising banquet.  He's also the auctioneer at the banquet.

Joe Kim · Answer

#1 Asian furniture stores.  American Living furniture in Livermore, CA.

You can essentially buy 90% of everything you need at one place, bedroom set, dining, living room all at very reasonable prices much less than IKEA.

moderate quality furniture for low price, free delivery, free assemble and movers will place furniture where you need it placed in the house.   Unfortunately, no "asian" furniture stores in Atlanta or Indianapolis - my two other markets.

#2 Hotel furnitures liquidators  - similar model as above, you can buy whole room sets.  I have not bought from them yet but I am looking for next Airbnb in Atlanta

#3 Cort furniture-  Friends in the Airbnb business have used Cort furniture (national chain) and found them to be reasonable.

#4  Wayfair - Not ideal but there are somethings I like getting from Wayfair - convertible sofa beds.

Con- assembly needed.  Pro- excellent customer service.  I can get 20-100% discounts if product is defective (even if minor scratches).

#5  Mattresses-  Amazon - memory foam.  No question.   High quality, cheap, etc.

Other methods may be cheaper, better but these are options are good for people who have little time (me) and want a quick solution.

Eloisa Gil Villafuerte · Answer

I totally agree with @Joe Kim

-Cort Clearance Center - Great for finding durable furnishings that are up to hotel standards.

-Memory Foam Mattresses from Amazon or Wayfair are an excellent value, comfortable, and gain many positive reviews. I recommend the brand Lucid.

-Any clearance section or floor models at your local furniture store. It doesn't need to be in pristine condition for a short-term rental, but it should definitely be quality built.

-Lastly, Home Goods/Marshall's/TJ Maxx and the like. They usually have interesting styles at much better prices than a furniture store.

Wishing you the best,

Eloisa

Benjamin Vail · Answer

I have spent many hour looking through second hand furniture, but after just furnishing our 32 STar house, I have found that buying on Amazon, with a spreadsheet and links to the items that I have bought before, works the best.

Here are the headaches you can save yourself:

1. Coordinating with people selling the items.

2. Coordinations with your crew picking up the stuff.

3. Items not being as nice as new items.

4. Bed bugs.

5. People that overvalue their old crappy stuff.

6. Lifting and moving heavy stuff.

7. Trying to fit that big couch in the tiny front door.

8. Haggling

9. Delivery fees

Here are the benifits:

1. You can order everything you need in the list in about an hour.

2. Everything on your list can be delivered directly to the actual house within 2 - 5 days.

3. Everything is new, and nice.

4. Pay someone to unpack and assemble.

The other thing I’m learning is to have some cookies ready when the mailman arrives. They are generally not happy to have to drop off 38 big boxes from Amazon.

Tim Bergstrom · Answer

@Nick Rutkowski Definitely a spot where being savy is super important! What I did for my STRs was actually get help from my home stager/interior designer. Many people who run those businesses have their own furnishing inventory that they need to change out/cycle through every so often. And if they've gotten their use out of them they may be willing to sell you their old pieces for some good deals. And the great thing is they'll probably be nice "higher end" looking pieces that are in good condition since they've needed to be to show homes.

Plus you may get the added bonus of being able to get their opinion of what would look good in your space. Definitely good to get some professional insight on this as it will elevate the look and give you higher perceived value.

Daniel Kong · Answer

Craigslist, Facebook, Marketplace, and Offerup. I really like Offerup over the other two. Everything is done with your phone, and the interface is really simple, and genius. Highly recommend that for grabbing (and selling) used furniture. Good Luck!

Ethan Cooke · Answer

@Nick Rutkowski - Estate auctions and used furniture stores are great as long as you know beforehand what they have so you don't waste your time. I buy more than half my furniture from amazon.com using a spreadsheet with product links because it's extremely efficient and I buy the same stuff over and over again. A nice, modern queen bed costs less than $200 and can be assembled in less than 30 minutes. End tables and coffee tables are about $35 and take 10 minutes to assemble. Dimmable torchiere lamps are about $45. All the bedroom sets are modern, new and matching. For more expensive things like sofa beds and dressers, I use craigslist and facebook marketplace. When I am furnishing multiple units at once, I use amazon almost exclusively.

John Underwood · Answer

Craigslist or FB market place.

We started with good second hand furniture and then slowly replaced with new furniture and even some custom built items.

Michael Nelson · Answer

@Nick Rutkowski The ReUse store is a great location, Craigslist, LetGo, Facebook Marketplace, I also have developed relationships with outlet furniture stores because not only is it significantly discounted but it’s also delivered and assembled. And lastly, check out the Ikea as is section. Getting brand new stuff that was on display for 50% off is never a bad thing.

What is your favorite/cheapest way to get furniture for your STR?

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