STR Startup Budget Spreadsheet – Cost to Launch Calculator (Excel)

Run your rentals before they run you. Cost-to-launch calculator for first-time Airbnb and STR hosts. All-in budget across acquisition, furnishing, launch, and 90-day reserve. Editable Excel.

Every blog post says something different. Every TikTok says $5,000. Every podcast says $50,000. You have $40,000 saved. You want to launch your first short-term rental. Nobody can tell you what the actual all-in number is — including the line items you'd forget.

This workbook gives you the all-in number in 30 minutes. 120 furnishing line items pre-populated with low / mid / high price ranges. Acquisition costs. Launch costs. A 90-day operating reserve treated as required, not optional. Year-one ROI projection so you know what you're actually buying.

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WHAT'S INCLUDED
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Excel workbook (6 tabs):

- Start — your launch budget headline, 90-day reserve readout, Y1 break-even occupancy, and a calming reassurance line ("Typical 2BR cabin: $32K-$58K mid finish")
- Acquisition — purchase price, down payment, closing costs, inspection, appraisal, title insurance, legal, loan origination. Defaults built in.
- Furnish & Setup — the marquee tab. ~120 line items pre-populated across 8 zones (bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living, outdoor, tech / smart-home, safety + supplies, linens + amenities). Three finish-quality columns (low / mid / high) with realistic Amazon-tier price ranges. Per-item override so you can pick low for the headboard and high for the mattress.
- Launch Costs — professional photos, permits, business license, LLC formation, EIN registration, insurance binder, PMS setup, dynamic pricing tool, signage, lockbox. ~18 line items.
- 90-Day Reserve — the operating runway. Mortgage P&I × 3, utilities × 3, insurance, cleaning reserve, maintenance reserve, marketing reserve, software subscriptions × 3.
- Total + Y1 ROI — all-in total, cash invested (excluding mortgage principal), Y1 revenue projection (ADR × occupancy × available nights), Y1 net, cash-on-cash %, payback period, break-even occupancy.

"Did you forget?" sidebar on the Furnish & Setup tab: a sticky checklist that flags the items new hosts skip — LLC, insurance binder, smoke detectors per code, CO detectors, fire extinguisher, first aid, exterior security cams, professional photos, pet supplies. Each row links back to its line item.

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WHY THIS PAYS FOR ITSELF
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The 90-day operating reserve. Most first-property failures aren't because the cabin was bad — they're because the host launched without runway, missed a single bad month, and couldn't make mortgage. This workbook makes the reserve a required line, not an afterthought.

Worth it for that alone. The 120 pre-populated line items are the bonus — they save you 200 trips to Amazon and the panic of remembering at month two that you never bought a fire extinguisher.

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WHO IT'S FOR
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- Newbie Nina: 0-1 properties, just launching, has heard wildly different numbers
- Side-Hustle Sam: contemplating property #2, wants to know the all-in before signing
- Aspiring rental-arbitrage operators: the furnishing checklist applies cleanly (skip the acquisition tab)
- Anyone whose spouse asked "what's this actually going to cost?" and deserves a real answer

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HOW IT WORKS
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1. Purchase → instant download
2. Open Acquisition tab — enter purchase price + down payment %, the rest defaults reasonably (10 minutes)
3. Open Furnish & Setup — set bedroom and bathroom counts. The 120 line items pre-populate. Pick a finish quality per item or accept the default mid (15 minutes)
4. Open Launch Costs and 90-Day Reserve — defaults populate, override what's wrong for your market (5 minutes)
5. Open Total + Y1 ROI — your all-in number is at the top. Below it: cash invested, Y1 net, cash-on-cash, payback. Print it. Hand it to your spouse, your lender, your CPA.

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FILE COMPATIBILITY
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Microsoft Excel 2016+ (Windows and Mac)
Microsoft Excel 365
Google Sheets (imports cleanly)

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FAQ
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Q: Are the price ranges accurate for 2026?
A: Yes. Low / mid / high reflect Amazon, Wayfair, and Costco bulk-buy benchmarks as of the version date stamped on the Methodology footer. A "low" mattress is around $250. A "high" mattress is around $1,200. Both are real market prices, not designer pricing. Re-check before purchasing — prices move.

Q: Does this work for rental arbitrage?...