Furnishing or Staging an Airbnb
Tim BergstromPro Member
Investor · Nashville, TN · Member since 2016 · 127 posts · 71 votesFurnishing or Staging an Airbnb
Most Popular Reply
Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2015 · 273 posts · 217 votes
9yI put a lot of money into furnishing my places. I do go looking for bargains or things I find on CL or the side of the road whenever I can, but I want my place to look comfortable and nice. I don't like when I stay in IKEAbnbs and don't want to provide that for other people. Guests have noticed the difference so it's worth it to me, and the stuff has held up.
38 Replies
- 9yJohn UnderwoodPro MemberInvestor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
Tim,
We started with stuff off Craigslist and then have replaced most things with new for our Lake vacation rental on Homeaway.com
You might not need as high end of stuff if you are doing the Bed and Breakfast route.
You can do Shabby Sheik for either by refinishing furniture off Craigslist.
I would buy nice new mattresses and put mattress pads on them to protect them.
- Shenandoah Valley, VA · Member since 2016 · 69 posts · 35 votes9y
craigslist! lots of fancy people sell their almost new West Elm, Room & Board, Ikea etc furniture for a steal on craigslist. sometimes they're just giving it away. we get 75% of our stuff on craigslist and estate auctions, you'll save so much if you have time to search.
- Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2016 · 533 posts · 433 votes9y
@Tim Bergstrom I think a lot has to do with where your places are located, the vibe you are trying to create and the desired demographics of your guests. Can you share a bit more about the location of your STR's?
- Investor · Nashville, TN · Member since 2016 · 127 posts · 71 votes9y
Thanks @John Underwood and @Ryanne Hodson for your feedback. You definitely can find good stuff on CL!
And @Michael Greenberg, yes most definitely. I anticipate most of my guests being in a similar demographic to me in being mostly 20 or 30 somethings just passing through Nashville or getting away for a weekend for whatever reason. My properties are about 5 miles from downtown, making them still a great deal for people wanting the downtown Nashville experience and all that the surrounding areas have to offer. Definitely going for the shaby chic/sophisticated rustic vibe. Being a designer myself I know I can get this look rather easily, just a matter of finding a cost effective method of doing so! I actually reached out to a staging company who has offered vacation rentals as part of their service! Seems like that could be a good option.
- Investor · Nashville, TN · Member since 2016 · 88 posts · 66 votes9y
I don't know what your time table is, but we are going to puting 3 Airbnbs on the market in July. So going to be selling all the furniture.
- Rental Property Investor · Nashville, TN · Member since 2013 · 63 posts · 43 votes9y
Hey Tim,
We brought another short-term rental in Nashville online about a year ago. We didn't have time to wait around and search for used, so we purchased all the major pieces from American Freight in Antioch, I-24 / Old Hickory Blvd area.
AF isn't particularly high quality, but its cheap, looks good, and has held up well with the several hundred guests that have come through our place in the last year. Seems they have some kind of warranty, but the stuff is cheap enough to consider disposable and replace as needed.
For character, we've picked up a few pieces here and there at the various consignment and thrift shops around town.
Short-Term rentals in Nashville (at least the good operators) have set the bar pretty high, so you'll want to make sure your place hits the mark based on your price point and location.
As others have mentioned, I would not go too cheap on mattresses and bedding.
We're bringing #3 online now, glad to help with any questions.
- Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2015 · 273 posts · 217 votes9y
I put a lot of money into furnishing my places. I do go looking for bargains or things I find on CL or the side of the road whenever I can, but I want my place to look comfortable and nice. I don't like when I stay in IKEAbnbs and don't want to provide that for other people. Guests have noticed the difference so it's worth it to me, and the stuff has held up.
- 9yJames CarlsonBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent · Colorado | stan.store/JamesCarlson · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
Hey @Tim Bergstrom. I think others have offered some great advice. I'll add that I think how much time you care to put into this and how much you care to spend is a big factor. Can you get everything off Craigslist? Sure, but if you're going for a certain look, that can take time to search the listings every day and wait for the right item to come up. Can you get everything at a store and save a lot of time? For sure, but you'll spend a little more money. My wife and I have two furnished rentals, and my wife can attest that I was obsessed with finding the perfect mid-century lounge chair and the perfect vintage industrial desk and the perfect ... on and on. In the end, I often opt for a mix of Craigslist and new store-bought stuff.
A staging company may be the way to go to save some time. Do you rent from them? Or are you buying their furniture
- Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2016 · 533 posts · 433 votes9y
@Tim Bergstrom Shaby chic? That's a new one to me. I'm a believer that good quality, not great pays off and since your first impression (photos) are going to differentiate you from the pack, I would spend a few extra bucks to make it pop. The other thing is that many of the "staging" items I have in my listings (flowers, books, magazines, vases) were things I borrowed for the photo shoot. No one remembers exactly what the photos look like, but they do recognize the space, and likely the furniture. I didn't skimp on beds because guests like good beds and bedding (Amazon Basics is inexpensive, holds up and is very comfortable). I have consistent rave reviews about the beds - that's HUGE for future guests. Same goes for decent towels, but I view them as basically disposable and replace them at least once a year. I found a LOT of good pieces of furniture and furnished my entire kitchen at IKEA (if you're willing to assemble). We all know how affordable it is but it may not be the look you are going for. I also found furniture and some cool inexpensive "art" pieces at a place called American Furniture Warehouse but I don't think they are in your neck of the woods. I've also been through a store called Nebraska Furniture Mart a number of years ago and I believe they are expanding into other states, just now sure about Tennessee.
- Rental Property Investor · North Fork, NY · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 631 votes9y
@Tim Bergstrom Great answers so far. I am in the same position as you, right now. From what I read so far: Try Tuft and Needle for mattresses and free delivery. Try Rooms to Go (selective locations).
Leather furniture holds up well. Clean is key. Accent pillows and throws work wonders to spruce things up. White linens = bleach = clean. Glass surfaces clean easily. Silk flowers get dusty. Real plants die. WiFi is essential. It sounds like you have a decorative advantage and you are in a great position. Let us know how you progress.
- Investor · Nashville, TN · Member since 2016 · 88 posts · 66 votes9y
They are very successful. I think everyone and their mother is getting into it. Nashville and the legislation is coming down hard on investors and frankly I am tired of dealing with it. The properties have appreciated nicely and I am ready to invest in something else. I feel like most people are getting into the game late. I have been doing it since 2014 and have seen a noticeable increase in competition thus decreasing revenue. I think pending Metro regulations are going to come down hard on investor owned Airbnbs and I want to get out before the mass exodus. Plus I lived in the property and can sell without paying capital gains. Running 3 Airbnbs is a lot of work. I have long term rentals and the amount of work is night and day. Do Airbnb make more? Absolutely but if you are truly paying the taxes that metro askes you to pay the margins are slim and maybe not worth it.
- 9yJames CarlsonBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent · Colorado | stan.store/JamesCarlson · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
Oh @Michael Greenberg, how embarassing to not know your deisign styles! ;) Shabby chic: pleasingly old with a slightly worn finish. Uh ... anyway.
I totally agree with you about using staging items that won't necessarily be in the unit for the guest. Before taking photos, I always situate a couple bouquets of fresh flowers around the space and a bowl of fruit in the kitchen somewhere . Are they there when guests arrive? No. But they sell the space well in photos, and a guest has never left a review that said, "Love the space. Great service. But what about that bowl of apples?"
You and @Blair Russell and @Nancy Bachety raise the issue about quality furnishings versus economic purchases. I'm interested in what people have spent. I agree that the IKEAbnbs are a bit overdone. That said, I love that store. I think it depends on what kind of space you're providing guests. Are you going for a higher-end clientele? If so, then yeah, IKEA's not going to cut it. But for a lot spaces, it's worked well for me.
I use a combination of Craigslist, IKEA and estate sales. I spent about $3,000 to furnish a tiny studio in Denver, and the same for a 1br condo in the same area. What about you guys?
- Denham Springs, LA · Member since 2015 · 133 posts · 35 votes9yThanks Carrie Carlton. Would you say running three Airbnb's is a "full-time job" type busy. The returns I'm coming up with from three Airbnb's would come close the income I'm making at my full time, and I wouldn't have to wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning! I calculate I would need 10 to 15 long-term rentals to see the same returns. That definitely sounds like a full-time job.
- Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2015 · 273 posts · 217 votes9y
@James Carlson I spend about $3k on one bed for my places, lol!
- Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2016 · 533 posts · 433 votes9y
Yes, pathetic that I don't know my design styles @James Carlson. Please forgive me - LOL! I spent $13k on a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath condo that sleeps 10 and $10k on a 2 bedroom 2 bath that sleeps 6. That's inclusive of all furnishings, linens, kitchen stocking, patio furniture, etc...
- 9yJames CarlsonBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent · Colorado | stan.store/JamesCarlson · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
Hey @Chad C.. It doesn't take too many short-term rentals to make a full-time job, both in terms of revenue and time spent. Between cleaning and laundry, responding to potential future guests and responding to current guest requests, it can add up quickly. If you want to scale, you need systems. A good cleaning person. A good management company. A good repair person on call. They'll take more out of you up front, but if you're looking at doing this full-time, you need to grow. And if you're doing everything yourself, you'll quickly hit a wall.
@Blair Russell. Great minds think (and spend) alike! @Michael Greenberg, I know you have some nice properties in Arizona. For the size of them, that sounds like a pretty good price.
- Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2015 · 273 posts · 217 votes9y
@James Carlson Let me rephrase, not a one bedroom, one king size bed! lol
- Investor · Nashville, TN · Member since 2016 · 88 posts · 66 votes9y
Yes I have found it necessary to build a team to be where I am now. Yes you can turn it into a full-time job if you had enough units, but there are a lot of variables that I would want to know before doing that. Nashville for example is finally policing permits. So we are seeing a lot of listings being removed. Nashville requires sales tax 9.75% plus hotel tax 6% plus 2.50 per night to paid on the guest behalf. Now many people are not paying this, but eventually the city will come around and police that as well. So you have to add that into your price. There is cleaning fees, repairs, dealing with early/late check ins, complaints etc. After doing it a while, I just don't find it worth it. And the people who say they find it financially worth it, I suspect are not properly permited and/or not paying the appropriate taxes.
- Investor · Nashville, TN · Member since 2016 · 127 posts · 71 votes9y
@Carrie Carlton that's good to know! I'm hoping for them to be up and running by June, but I'll have a better idea come mid April. I'll definitely keep your info and feel free to reach out when it comes time for y'all to actually liquidate. Back in 2015 I almost bought a couple properties that had second units on the properties and I had the thought to Airbnb them back then, but the deals didn't work out for other reasons. I've been so frustrated they didn't work out because now I do agree with you that a lot of people are jumping on the band wagon. Thanks for your insight!
- Rental Property Investor · College Grove, TN · Member since 2016 · 23 posts · 5 votes9y
Hi @Tim Bergstrom...I know I'm jumping into the conversation a little late, but we have an AirBnB in Nashville that we just listed in January. It's a 3bdrm/1bath and we spent $11,500 on décor/furnishings. I had contacted a company that does the design/installation for you...everything right down to the glasses and plates, etc. They priced it at $13K plus another $3K for their fee. I needed less expensive, so I did it myself. We were trying to hustle, so I did the largest amount of it at At Home. Headboards and dining table at Wayfair who have great deals. You can get bed rails that fit any size from Walmart for $40-ish each. I also went to Mark's Mattress Warehouse for the three mattresses and box springs. They have ones that for some reason or another (like maybe the plastic covering on the bed during shipping got a small hole in it) could not be under warranty. I paid about $1500 total for two queens and a full plus the springs. I opted to get a bit higher quality...so not the bottom of the barrel, because comfort matters in reviews. Another large purchase was the sofa bed. I could have found cheaper couches, but I wanted a comfortable mattress...again I think this matters in the reviews. It's not the highest quality, but it definitely not the lowest...and no annoying bar in your back. Hope all of that helps. Best wishes!
- Developer · AZ · Member since 2014 · 77 posts · 60 votes8y
I have 5 Vacation rentals in Sedona AZ and just closed on a 6th last week. Right now I am putting together my property improvement and furnishing plan for this 6th property.
In addition to my 6 units, my management
RotateReply operation has managed short term vacation rentals in Flagstaff also. I have operated up to 10 proepties between Flagstaff and Sedona at one time so far.
I intend on getting to 10 vacation rental units I own or have a stake in the Real Estate by the end of the year.
So far on my properties and working with other owners I have tried and have seen different ways of doing this.
I have thrift shopped, bought off craigslist, bought entire sets of furniture with most decor items from a furniture company all at once, also worked with GCs and professional designers. Now I am interested in leasing furniture completely if the numbers make sense and company is good, so that the furnishings are not my responsibility.
With one or two properties buying and owning all furniture, decor, linens, kitchen items, etc, etc, etc (there are so many items you need to set up a bare property from scratch) may not be a big deal. You can take your time, do all the moving yourself, bargain hunt etc.
However, I feel like when you get to more properties, this is a total waste of time and even a little amateur in some cases. I am doing this full time so it is different than doing it as a side project on one property. I also run all the marketing, guest comms, ongoing management etc so finding efficient ways to do things is important. I dont have any employees but outsource anything that I can when possible so far.
My average stays are 3 days (of course this varies, I have had some as long as 3 weeks and as little as 1 night) and I have averaged ~85% occupancy rates in a year and half so far. So my properties are getting turned over constantly!
On the last three properties I set up, I worked with professional designers. The last designer was also a general contractor and we completed improvements to the property also. I think this was an excellent move as they could effectively manage and schedule contractors, be available to receive and assemble all furnishings, etc.
The $ cost was easily worth the time savings and efficiency compared to doing all of this on my own with a truck driving all over the place shopping for deals, making design decisions (I hate this part especially, I am more big picture and cant stand wasting time on decision over little details) etc. Not mention doing actual handy work and/or managing subs to complete property improvements.
The faster you can get a vacation rental up and running the better. You may pay more money upfront working with professionals and batching all the many tasks together, but you can make up for it because you could be bringing in revenue much faster. Revenue on vacation rentals can be significant in the right area, with the right properties, right marketing, and operations. So just because you got deals bargain hunting and doing all the work your self, it could actually cost you money because it took you a lot longer to actually have the property live online and bringing in revenue. It depends on your goals and your situation with your property.
I have also found that the function of your operations needs to be taken into consideration when designing and furnishing a place (a bigger deal managing multiple properties vs one). You can avoid lots of maintenance issues this way. So if you work with a designer you need to keep them in check because they may focus too much on design, not function, durability, etc. I do highly value designers so that the properties look and feel great, I think this is very important also. But it can be a bit of a balancing act.
I find dealing with furnishings a major hassle and I am worried about what is going to happen in another year or two when we have to start replacing and fixing lots of furniture and furnishings. I dont want to have a warehouse just to keep furnishings for these properties. (I plan on scaling and growing further in 2019 also).
Does anyone have experience with CORT furniture or a similar company? They lease furniture, decor, kitchen items, etc. They advertise they set up everything entirely within 48 hours. When your lease is up they supposedly come and remove everything also. This sounds like this could be the best way to set up multiple properties but I am still not sure on the numbers or how good this company actually is to work with.
I love that I may not have to buy more furniture that will be a hassle to sell, move, or replace down the line. I dont want to tie up capital in furniture (however, on one property I financed every piece of furniture that was bought with no interest, which was a great deal so there was not capital loss on furnishings) and deal with logistics of moving. I also live in Flagstaff which is about 1 hour away from Sedona where my places are located so the more tasks I can batch together the better! I am planning the next acquisitions to be in the Phoenix market which is two hours away.
On another note I have also considered getting out of operations completely if I can find good operators/management cos. to just focus on the Real Estate part and putting together good deals. Problem is most managers really are not very good at this, cost too much, and just dont drive the level of revenue that my systems do. There are one or two interesting operators in AZ but not in Flagstaff/Sedona (which is a major tourist/travel area by the way). So for now I will push on with my own operations/management co.
Interested to hear others comments!
- Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes8y
I have 22 STRs with 82 beds. 95% of my furnishings and appliances come from estate sales, garage sales or craigslist (used). The other 5% come from Lowes (new). Most of my tenants aren't picky at all. They are male contractors working short term jobs at a refinery. They are the people you see working on and around the large steel erections.
- Developer · AZ · Member since 2014 · 77 posts · 60 votes8y
Originally posted by @Paul Sandhu:
I have 22 STRs with 82 beds. 95% of my furnishings and appliances come from estate sales, garage sales or craigslist (used). The other 5% come from Lowes (new). Most of my tenants aren't picky at all. They are male contractors working short term jobs at a refinery. They are the people you see working on and around the large steel erections.
Paul, how long are the typical stays /rentals at your properties? Are you talking 30+ days?
Definitely different types of STRs out there.... Sounds like you have nice niche going. When I think STR, I am thinking exclusively of less than 30 day "rentals". I actually don't even think "rental" is the appropriate word to use. Our state's land lord tenant act does not apply and my tenants are more like guests than renters/tenants. Although I don't use traditional leases or rental agreements at all, depending on the booking site my guests come from, we make them tick a box agreeing that their "rental" activity falls under Innkeeper's statues and not Landlord tenant act.
My properties cater to travelers and my average stay is only 3 days. To stay competitive we need good design/furnishings to offer good value to our guests.
- Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes8y
@Brian T. Grooms Here's a rough breakdown:
20% 1 week
30% 2 weeks
30% 3-4 weeks
20% 5+ weeks
The average stay is about 3 weeks or less. I don't charge any less than a full week. If people stay less than 7 days, I tell them they have credit for the unused days that they can use the next time they stay with me.
My renters tell me the same thing, having a kitchen, washer and dryer are the main selling points.
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