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<\/a><\/p>\nWe already share exactly what we earn and spend in every category of our family budget.\u00a0 Now we’re also sharing details for our Airbnb rental.\u00a0 You only see the net income from Airbnb in our monthly budget updates, and if you’re thinking about hosting with Airbnb (or have no plans to ever host, but are just curious), that’s not the whole story.\u00a0 Today we’re sharing exact costs for setting up our Airbnb.<\/p>\n
If you’re thinking of renting out your place as a short-term rental<\/a> you’ll want to think about the start-up costs.<\/p>\n So far we are having a great experience (and earning a nice side income) as Airbnb hosts!<\/p>\n When we bought our house, we looked for a property that had a separate unit that we could rent out as an additional source of income.\u00a0 We’ve stayed in Airbnbs many times and thought it would be a fun way to earn some income on the side.<\/p>\n We were already looking for a property that had at least 5 acres and it’s not uncommon for properties like this to have a mother-in-law suite or an additional small home on the property.\u00a0 We were excited that the property we fell in love with had an additional 1-bedroom unit.\u00a0 We didn’t plan to rent it out right away, but a friend connected us with someone who was looking for a place and before we knew it we were landlords, just a few months after becoming homeowners again.<\/p>\n When our renters moved out at the end of July 2018, we decided that it would be a great time to give Airbnb hosting a try<\/a>.<\/p>\n When we first started renting, we set aside the first $2000 in income as a “rental emergency fund” so we could handle most repairs or maintenance without dipping into the family budget.\u00a0 When we decided to go from long-term rentals to short-term rentals on Airbnb, we planned to just use that $2,000 to spruce up and furnish our Airbnb rental.\u00a0 We already had some furniture and planned to buy the rest used, so we thought we could do it all for relatively cheap.<\/p>\n Looking back there are only a few things I would have done differently.\u00a0 I’ll tell you what those were in a minute.<\/p>\n First, let me go through all of the things we purchased and what we paid for them.<\/p>\n If you are thinking of renting your place out through Airbnb, you’ll definitely want to look through the list to get an idea of what you might need to get started.\u00a0 Of course it will depend on what your space is like before you start getting it ready.<\/p>\n Yeah. That’s a lot of stuff.\u00a0 When we first thought about furnishing and decorating, we were mostly thinking about the big purchases, but there are a whole bunch of smaller things too, and they certainly add up.<\/p>\n I wish I had gone straight for microfiber sheets instead of messing with fancy cotton sheets that cost twice as much and are ten times the headache.\u00a0 The cotton ones come out of the dryer so wrinkled, and don’t smooth easily!\u00a0 I don’t want our guests pulling down the covers to find wrinkly sheets.<\/p>\n I’ve tried taking them out still slightly damp and putting them straight on the bed, which works a little better, but they still don’t look as good as microfiber.\u00a0 I don’t also don’t want to have to get the timing perfect with getting them out of the dryer at the right time and putting them right on the bed.<\/p>\n Our place is nice, but it’s not high end (well, we don’t charge high-end prices).\u00a0 People are cool with microfiber.\u00a0 That’s what we’ll be getting from now on.<\/p>\n We bought our desk, dresser, and night stands at a cute boutique where consignors sell shabby chic furniture and decor, so we spent more than we normally would have.\u00a0 We didn’t want to spend the time looking at all the thrift stores and Facebook groups to find furniture that went together.\u00a0 We were in a hurry to just be done, so we overpaid.<\/p>\n If I were to do it again, I would have saved money by being a little more patient.\u00a0 When I’m buying used, my normal rule of thumb is that I won’t pay more than I could get if I were to turn around and resell the item.\u00a0 Actually, I usually figure on making a profit if I wanted to (or had to) turn around and resell the item.<\/p>\n Related article: How we essentailly furnished our first house for free (and even made money)<\/a><\/p>\n For what it’s worth, my husband says the time and hassle saved by just buying everything in one trip to the botique was worth the higher prices.\u00a0 He was just glad to have it done!<\/p>\n First we color matched the paint that was already in the bedroom so we could do some touch up work.\u00a0 Then we repainted the accent wall that was oddly colored when we bought the house.\u00a0 After choosing to make it a different accent color we decided that we didn’t like it, so we repainted the entire room a color that we already knew that we loved.\u00a0 It was extra work and extra expense, but we are both happy with how it turned out!<\/p>\n I had forgotten all that we went through with painting, but Mike didn’t (can you tell who did most of the work?).\u00a0 When I asked him what he would change, this was his first response!<\/p>\n Oh, yes!\u00a0 The place looks beautiful.\u00a0 One day, our own house might even look as good.\u00a0 We really had no idea how an hosting an Airbnb short-term rental would go in our area, but the apartment has been nearly completely booked since we opened it up.\u00a0 We covered our initial outlay in the first three months.<\/p>\n As for prices, this first year, we are just gauging the demand and keeping our prices on the low end.\u00a0 As we see the ebbs and flows in all seasons of the year, we will likely be able to raise our prices and still hopefully fill the place.<\/p>\n Are you thinking about doing a short-term rental?\u00a0 Whether it’s renting out a spare room in your house, or occasionally renting out your house or apartment when you’re out of town, Airbnb<\/a> has really made the process seamless.<\/p>\n I’m happy to answer any Airbnb-related questions in the comments (and perhaps write future posts on the topic, if it’s something our community is interested in hearing about)! Let me know!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The post Cost of Setting Up Our Airbnb Rental<\/a> appeared first on Six Figures Under<\/a>.<\/p>\nSpoiler: It cost us about twice as much.<\/h3>\n
Furniture $1,255<\/h3>\n
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Basics $1,179<\/h3>\n
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Linens $662<\/h3>\n
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Bathroom $109<\/h3>\n
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Kitchen $265<\/h3>\n
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Decor $313<\/h3>\n
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Consumables $149<\/h3>\n
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TOTAL= $3,932<\/h3>\n
What we would have done differently<\/h2>\n
Microfiber sheets instead of cotton sheets<\/h3>\n
Shop smarter for furniture<\/h3>\n
Just paint once<\/h3>\n
Was it worth it?<\/h2>\n
Was this helpful? Want to say thanks?<\/h3>\n
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