A question that often comes up is: do I need to spend thousands of dollars to furnish a home to make it ready as a Tampa vacation rental? No, you do not want to do that.
Furnishing Your Tampa Vacation Rental
Personally, I furnish my own vacation rental homes by going to yard sales and estate sales in an effort to pick up everything I need. It’s more cost effective to stick to used furniture. I have literally spent under a thousand dollars furnishing my rental properties. High grade mattresses are important, high grade sheets and linens are important. However, the furniture is not as important. You don’t want a $5,000 couch in your vacation rental because if someone spills a cup of coffee on it, you’ll probably get upset about that. You want a $200 couch instead. As a property owner, you don’t want to get anxious about trivial things. That’s why it’s better to have disposable things.
There are auction houses that specialize in estate sales, and these places can help you furnish your vacation rental. They will go into a house and buy everything, then auction it off. You can buy a whole house full of furniture for under a thousand dollars. This is how I would handle buying furniture and fixtures and dishes, pots and pans. There’s really no need to buy anything new. We recommend you keep your furniture cheap and simple.
There will always be the opportunity to upgrade after you’re producing income and feeling more comfortable and confident. At that point, you’ll be able to watch the estate sales and Craigslist and you’ll be in a position to acquire a better couch and a better bedroom set. It’s not necessary to start off at the top of the line.
I have the names and phone numbers of different auction houses in the area, and I would be happy to help you find the right furnishings for a good price. If you’d like more information, please contact me at HomeSeekers.