How Much Does It Truly Cost to Furnish a New Airbnb

[Boris Mordkovich]

After furnishing quite a few properties for short-term rentals, we generally have a pretty good sense of how much to budget for furnishing whenever we’re putting together a budget for new properties. Being able to budget properly upfront helps reduce surprises down the road and ensures that you have a true, honest view of how much it’ll cost to get started.

I figured that this information may be helpful to others who are considering doing short-term rentals and also was curious to get a sense of how the numbers shake out for other people as well. 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.

In our experience, a 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom property costs between $12,000 to $14,000 to furnish and setup from start to finish (including all furniture, decor, supplies and labor). This number has been surprisingly consistent across multiple properties.

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 furniture (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 a 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.

Once you properly account for all of the things involved in setting up a new property, you can see 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.

Lastly, it’s worth taking a moment to talk about where to get the furnishings in the first place.

We typically get more of our furnishings from Wayfair, Cost Plus World Market, Article.com and Amazon. We end up ordering 90-95% of it online, as it allows us to plan and execute more efficiently vs. trying to figure it out in person in the stores (especially during these times!).

We generally steer away from places like Ikea, as it’s a bit too well known, quality can vary widely and it’s harder to actually order from them online.

How about you? 

It’d be great to learn how others furnish their short-term rental properties! How much do you budget for them? What are your favorite sources for getting the furnishings?

[Michael Elefante]

I think it's market dependent too.. If you are catering towards a mix of quick weekend trips or business travel, you can probably go on the cheaper side.. If you want to really stand out in a hot, competitive market, catering towards vacations or special occasions - spending a few extra bucks in the rooms or outdoor spaces that will be your first few key photos online - those are your money shots and will ultimately get you more clicks, bookings, better reviews, higher ranking on Airbnb / VRBO and coming full circle - ultimately you'll be able to charge more with the higher demand and occupancy goes up = more money in your pocket.. 

I personally budget for $5k/# of Bedrooms as a ballpark. So for a 4 BR house with some outdoor space, I would budget for around $20k - this includes common spaces like kitchen, living room, etc. It will vary from property to property... Again, if it's a special occasion, people are willing to spend the extra money on a place they are emotionally drawn to. It's worth spending the extra $5-10k on furnishings if it means you could go from grossing $50k/year to $85k/year. 

We try and have one or two things with each property that really stand out. For example, in Nashville, we put in a custom interactive mural on our living room wall - catering towards the bachelorette crowds who typically spend more money for a once in a lifetime trip. We are able to capture $200-400 higher per night on the weekends than the surrounding Airbnbs because of that mural. This will bring our annual revenue up from $75k to above $90k/year.. People want to post on instagram and show everybody out there how great of a time they're having. Again - it's an emotional decision IMO, and it's worth spending the extra money up front if it means higher future earnings. Just my perspective..