STR Startup Cost Calculator

What a launch actually costs, what comes back, and how many months until it pays for itself.

Ten sections, worked top to bottom. Property basics first — bedrooms, bathrooms, sleeps and a furnishing tier — because those decide which lines below are live and what they fill with. Then renovation and repairs, furnishing and design, technology, professional services, insurance and safety, and supplies. Pick Budget, Mid-range, Premium or Luxury and every furnishing line fills with a typical figure for that tier; type your own quote over any of them.

Section 8 is the one that surprises people: sales tax on the furnishings, delivery and assembly, utility deposits and activation fees, and a contingency on the whole build. Together they usually run larger than the entire technology section.

Section 9 keeps pre-launch reserves separate on purpose — the months of mortgage, insurance, taxes and utilities you can carry with zero bookings is money you hold, not money you spend. The workbook reports total startup cost and cash needed at launch as two different numbers, because lumping them together overstates what opening the doors cost.

The right-hand side reads the result: where the money went by share, cost per bedroom and per sleeper, and which benchmark band your total lands in — Budget through Luxury — with a plain statement of whether that matches the tier you picked. Build a Mid-range plan that lands in Premium money and it says so. Payback comes from the monthly cash flow you enter, shown three ways: as projected, at 75%, and at 50%, against the 12–24 month benchmark.

Nothing calculates from a blank — results stay hidden until every required cell has a value, and a readiness panel names the section still missing one. A 17-page guide comes with it, plus three printable worksheets.