How to cost furnishing a short term rental?

Question

I'm looking at buying a house single family home that is 3bed 2 bath and I am curious if any has a basic formula to use to figure out furnishing the place to add that into the start up capital.

Thank you for your help

Paul Sandhu · Answer

I furnished my 23 STRs mostly from estate auctions.  Pieces of furniture go for $50-$75.  Major appliances for about $100.  Bedroom suites for about $150.  I've got a 16 foot trailer, and can put most of the contents for a 3BR house on it from an estate auction.  I'll even go to auctions and buy spare appliances and extra furniture and put them in storage.  6 months go by and I find a great deal on a bank foreclosure.  I buy it, and I already have all the furniture and appliances sitting in storage.

Paul Sandhu · Answer

I buy oil paintings on eBay from China.  $1-$3 each, delivered.  Next I make picture frames from 2x4's and a table saw.  The cost of the wood for a medium sized frame is about $1.00.  Then I stain and urethane them, and make a frame.  There's probably 2-4 pieces of artwork on every wall in a house.

My artwork theme?  Think Hugh Hefner.

Michael Baum · Answer

Hey Account Closed, we had to furnish our entire place when we bought it. My recommendation is to stay with good quality USA made furniture. I found all mine on either Craigslist, OfferUP and LetGo. You can make some really great scores on furniture on there.

Mattresses, Zinus Green Tea 12". Inexpensive and comfy. Watch Amazon for a sale on them. I got my king under $200 and the Queen about $160 each. Always new.

You will need linens. I use a 70/30 Cotton/Poly blend. Percale weave. They wash nice, dry nice and are pretty easy care. Kohl's Big One sheets in that formula. No sateen weave, they pill up.

Towels, we use the Grandeur Hospitality from Costco. White. They wash nice, are absorbent and last. We are on our 3rd year with them. Get them on sale for just over 2 bucks each for towels. Buy cheap black and grey washcloths and embroider them with MAKEUP on them. So far no guest has used the white towels for makeup.

For summer use, we use the Charisma quilts from Costco. They are big, hang nice on the bed, wash up great and are lasting well. 3rd year on them. Get them on sale for under $20 each.

Really go to town on the kitchen. Really stock it up with lots of options. It really matters.

Like Ken said, you need to figure out what your target is. Ours is extended and larger families. Our house is furnished as such.

Chase Hoover · Answer

When I first started doing this I simply wrote out a list of everything I was going to need to buy and then guess or look online at prices.  It gave me a solid budget.  After doing a few you learn about what to expect as you typically order most of the same things.  For a 1/1 apartment I typically end up around $3500.  Each add'l bedroom is generally another $1000.  I'd recommend starting with a list specific to your property to get the best idea of budget.

John D. · Answer

This will depend significantly on the quality of product you are trying to put out.  If there is a competitor in your market with a quality similar to the one you are looking to produce, post it here, and we can help you estimate.  I get most of our furniture from Wayfair, some from local consignment stores, and some from Amazon, but we are putting out higher-end homes with very specific design styles.

Ken Latchers · Answer

You need to Target your Market. Most people going to vacation rental expect it to be nice. $99 mattresses and Goodwill furnishings will not cut it.

there's a lot that goes into it. Each bedroom, each bathroom, living room, dining room, kitchen, walls, pots and pans and glasses and dishes and sheets and towels and blankets and decorative stuff and pictures and perhaps exterior stuff like patio furniture. Appliances and toaster and coffee maker. Etc. Etc.

most people vastly underestimate.

John Underwood · Answer

Are you starting out with nothing?

Are you buying all new?

you can save a lot by buying 2and hand off Craigslist, FB marketplace etc.

10k for new.

3k for used.

These are approximations

Luke Carl · Answer

@Dakota Coburn John is right. I’m doing a higher end 4/5 soon and I may finance the furniture from rooms to go. 5 years same as cash. Why not? Let the renters pay for the furniture

Nene Osia · Answer

@ Dakota Co

Account Closed theres a company called Havenly.  I go there to get design inspiration.  They have designers post projects with the estimated costs for every aspect of the home.  Theres no real formula but more of what is your budget.  If you dont really have one then you can furnish any way you like.  However if you do have one then I typically search items similar to that on the site to find lower available costs.  I also google search, specific images like gray wall white couch or blue wall gray couch.  From that I also search for items similar to those photos and design from there.

Paul Sandhu · Answer

I'd put up pictures of the interiors of my places, but that would only confirm what most of you suspect.  I'm an intellectual degenerate.

How to cost furnishing a short term rental?

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