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Category: Design & Furnishing
By: James Wu
Reply by David Okafor:
Furnished my first 2 properties almost entirely secondhand. It's totally doable but there are rules. Things you must buy new for hygiene and safety reasons: mattresses (never used, bed bugs are real, grab a Zinus from Amazon for $200), pillows ($8 each at Target), sheets and towels (new white sets, about $100 total), toilet seat ($25, just trust me on this), shower curtain ($10), and smoke/CO detectors. Everything else is fair game secondhand and this is where you save real money. Solid wood furniture is the sweet spot — dressers, nightstands, dining tables from Facebook Marketplace at 80-90% off retail. Look for heavy pieces with dovetail joints, that's real wood. Metal or solid wood bed frames, dining chairs (easy to clean or repaint if needed), lamps (test them, replace shades for $10 at Target), kitchen items from estate sales (pots, pans, full dish sets — dishwasher sanitizes everything), wall art from Goodwill ($2-5 frames, print your own art from Canva or Etsy), and mirrors which are weirdly expensive new but cheap secondhand. Be careful with: sofas (can harbor bed bugs and smells — only buy leather/pleather or something you can thoroughly sanitize), upholstered chairs (same concerns), and rugs (inspect carefully for pet damage). For my first 1BR I spent almost exactly $1,500 total. The big items: mattress and protector from Amazon ($235 new), bed frame from Marketplace ($60), bedding from Target ($80 new), pillows from Amazon ($50 new), towels from Target ($60 new), leather sofa from Marketplace ($200), dresser from an estate sale ($50), dining set from Marketplace ($100), and a TV from Marketplace ($80). Rest went to nightstands, lamps, kitchen stuff from estate sales, wall art from Goodwill, smart lock, curtains, and miscellaneous. It looked beautiful in photos and earned $2,800 its first full month. Pretty hard to argue with that ROI. For maximizing your listing photos on a budget, there are some good guides at https://strspecialist.com/blog.
Reply by Emily Chen:
Estate sales are the GOAT for STR furnishing. Tips for finding them: - **EstateSales.net** and **EstateSales.org** — search your area, see photos before going - Go on the **LAST DAY** — everything is 50% off - Bring a truck or have a friend with one - Go early for the best pieces but go late for the best prices - Estate sales in wealthy neighborhoods = high-quality furniture at garage sale prices One estate sale near me had an entire kitchen set (All-Clad pots and pans, KitchenAid mixer, full dish set, utensils) for $120. That would've been $800+ new. Also: **Facebook Marketplace negotiation tip** — Always offer 60% of asking price. Most sellers expect negotiation and price accordingly. "$80 for that dresser? Would you take $50?" works probably 70% of the time.