We scored a great deal on furniture for our second MTR. Here's how.

[Nicole Heasley Beitenman]

We're gearing up to launch our 2nd MTR. Furnishing our first was miserable. First, we tried Amazon, Wayfair, and Walmart furnishings. 50% of was particleboard garbage. Then we tried the FB Marketplace route. By the time we messaged folks about their furniture, haggled over price, scheduled the pickup, rented a truck, etc, we were tired. It wasn't worth the savings. 

Around Black Friday, I went to Ashley Furniture (we'll call this store A1) looking for a piece for my primary, which is an hour from my rentals. They were having a good sale; everything was 40% off the "original price" (which is always a number they make up so they can then "discount" it). I asked when the next sale would be, and they told me February. 

Week before the February sale, we went to the Ashley near our rentals (we'll call this store A2) or to pick out what we'd purchase at the sale. The sales rep put together a quote for us, which we put in our back pockets for later. When the sale rolled around, we let A1 put together their quote, which was lower than A2. So we took A1's quote to A2 to see if they'd beat it. My business partner/PM kept going back and forth until we settled on a deal with A2. We furnished a 1,050 SF house (dining room table and 4 chairs, sofa, loveseat, armchair, 2 end tables, 2 bedroom sets minus mattresses, and a desk) for $5,800, which was $1,600 less than where we started. It's all brand new, we got to touch and feel it all to check the quality before we purchased it, and we have good relationships with both stores. I'll never look for furniture online again. I hope this helps someone else looking to furnish their next STR or MTR!