Published
What it actually costs to set up a Sydney short-stay property
Setup is the one cost an owner pays before any income exists, which is exactly why it deserves a written number rather than a shrug.
The honest answer is a range, and it depends on one thing
Whether the property is already furnished. An apartment that is fully furnished, photographed and registered needs a listing build and not much else. An empty two-bedroom needs beds, sofa, dining, kitchen, linen, safety items, photography and registration — a different order of cost entirely.
MetaWise quotes onboarding from AUD 1,000 plus GST, in writing, against your specific property. A quote that arrives without anybody looking at the property is a number designed to win the conversation, not to be accurate.
What owners overspend on
Decorative furniture that photographs well and fails in month four. Feature lighting nobody switches on. A television larger than the wall. Rugs in a property with a bathtub. Anything with a fabric that cannot be wiped.
Short-stay furniture lives a harder life than home furniture. The relevant question about every item is not whether it looks good on day one, but what it looks like after two hundred guests and how quickly one part of it can be replaced.
What owners underspend on, and regret
The mattress. Guests write reviews about sleep, and a bad mattress is mentioned by name for years. Mattress and pillow protectors, which decide whether one incident costs forty dollars or six hundred. Blackout blinds. Internet fast enough for a video call. Enough towels and linen for three complete sets, so a same-day turnover is never waiting on a wash.
And the boring compliance items: smoke alarms to the required standard, an extinguisher and fire blanket in the kitchen, an evacuation diagram. Cheap, quick, and the first thing an insurer asks about.
Photography is not a luxury line
The photographs are the product on every channel. They decide the click-through rate, which decides the impressions, which decides the bookings. A property that is furnished well and photographed badly earns like a property that is furnished badly.
One professional shoot, done once, with the property fully styled and the lights on, is the single highest-return item on a setup list. Do it after the last piece of furniture arrives, not before.