Understanding how much it will cost to fully furnish and setup a new property is critical to the success of your short-term rental. If you’re able to budget properly upfront, you can reduce surprises down the road and make sure that you have enough funds to see the project through.

It’s worth mentioning that the costs can vary wildly - depending on the type of property, target guest audience, and your personal style and preferences. So simply consider the below as a template and feel free to tweak to your own needs.

In our experience, a typical 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom property costs between $12,000 to $14,000 to furnish and setup from start to finish. This number has been surprisingly consistent across multiple properties.

Breaking It Down

To better understand the economics of setting up a property, let’s look at individual components:

• Bedroom Furniture - this can range anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000 per bedroom, depending on where you shop. A bedroom would typically include a bedframe, mattress, nightstand, desk, desk chair, another sitting surface, lighting and some decorative art. So, with a 4-bedroom property, you would typically spend around $6,000 on bedroom furnitures (plus or minus $2K).

• Living Room Furniture - this can also add up quickly, so you can plan for $2,000 to cover the couch, coffee table, lighting and decorative art.
  
  
• Kitchen - with a dining table and chairs, you can usually plan for $500 to $1,000.
  
  
• Supplies - these begin to add up quickly due to volume. For example, for each bedroom, you would typically need to get at least 3 sets of sheets, 12 towels, 4 pillows, 1-2 blankets and a throw. This can easily end up being $300 per bedroom. Once you account for kitchen supplies and never-ending list of small things around the house, you can easily allocate $2,000 to the overall supplies category.
  
  
• Appliances - if you’re lucky, your property already comes with everything included. If not, keep in mind that a washer and dryer will set you back between $1,000 to $1,500.
  
  
• Security - this typically includes things like outdoor web cams, new digital locks on the front doors, and perhaps keyed locks on the bedrooms. This can be between $500 to $1,000 depending on the brands you choose.
  
  
• Labor - if you’re treating this as an investment, you may want to hire a couple of people to help you move everything in and put all of the furniture together. On average, you’d need about $500 there.
  

Applying this to yourself

Once you properly account for all of the things involved in setting up a new property, you can where the $14,000 comes from.

Of course, if your property is smaller or you’re thrifty and have a bit of time to look for better deals, you could get it done for less. However, be careful not to underestimate it when you’re planning out your budget - it’s better to come in less than expected than over.

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If you have any questions, feel free to email us at hi@buildyourbnb.com. We would love to hear from you!