A condo that has been someone's home does not become a guest home just by adding clean sheets and a listing. The preparation is mostly unglamorous, and it decides how quickly the unit books, what it earns, and what the first reviews say. Guests staying a month or more live in the home rather than visit it, so the standard to aim for is a genuinely good apartment, ready on arrival, with nothing missing that a working professional needs.

This is the preparation we run before any home takes its first booking, in roughly the order the work happens.

Remove yourself from the home first

Guests settle into a home that feels like theirs for the season, and they never quite settle into someone else's. Clear out clothing, papers, photographs, toiletries, and anything you would mind losing, and resist the temptation of an owner closet stuffed to the hinges if you can store things elsewhere entirely. What should remain is the useful, anonymous layer: cookware, hangers, a vacuum, spare linens. If some of your furniture is staying, judge each piece honestly, because a tired sofa photographs exactly as tired as it is.

Furnish for the way guests actually live

Furnishing for monthly stays is about durable comfort rather than decoration. The bed matters more than anything else in the home, so the mattress should be one you would happily sleep on for three months. A real workspace comes next, since most guests are professionals on relocations, projects, or contracts, and a desk with a proper chair near good light is often the booking decision. The kitchen needs to genuinely cook, with pots that pour, knives that cut, and enough of everything for four people. For an empty unit, furnishing typically costs $3,500 to $5,000, spent once, and the furniture belongs to you with no margin added, and in our experience the lift in rent tends to cover the cost within about four months. Our design team trained at BIG and OMA in New York, and the steadiest lesson from that work is restraint, because calm rooms with good light book faster than clever ones.

The details guests notice in the first hour

A guest's first hour sets the tone for the entire stay, and the same few things decide it every time.

Fast, reliable wifi, tested from the desk and from the sofa, with the password written down
A quality mattress, good linens, and more pillows than seems necessary
Blackout blinds or curtains in the bedroom
A bathroom with generous towels and somewhere to put a toiletry bag
Starter supplies for the first days: coffee, tea, salt, oil, dish soap, toilet paper

Across our portfolio, 95% of guest reviews are five stars, and what the reviews consistently mention is the wifi, the bed, and whether the home was truly ready, rather than the art on the walls.

Building logistics nobody warns you about

Condo buildings have their own choreography, and guests collide with it on the first day unless you prepare. Book the elevator for the furniture delivery, and learn the building's rules for arrivals before the first one happens. Count the fobs, keys, garage remotes, and mailbox keys, test every one of them, and record which guest holds what. Confirm how parking and visitor parking actually work in practice. Above all, read your building's rules on rentals before you list, because condo bylaws treat stays of a month or more differently from building to building, and stays of 28 nights or more sit outside Toronto's short term rental rules in any case, though current rules are always worth confirming. Building management runs on notice and paperwork, so introduce the arrangement properly rather than hoping nobody asks.

Photograph it honestly, then keep it that way

Photography comes last, and only once the home is truly ready, because the photos are what get a unit booked and they are a promise the home has to keep. Shoot in daylight, show the actual rooms guests will live in, and never flatter the unit into disappointing people, since a guest who arrives to less than the pictures begins the stay annoyed and reviews accordingly. After that, the standard has to hold between stays, with written cleaning standards doing the remembering. This is the preparation Bbyrent runs before a home takes bookings at app.bbyrent.com, and if you would like to know what your condo could earn furnished before committing to any of it, the modeling is free.

Frequently asked questions

What do I need to provide in a furnished monthly rental?

Everything a person needs to live comfortably out of a suitcase: a quality bed and linens, a real workspace, a fully equipped kitchen, fast wifi, generous towels, and starter supplies. The test is whether a professional could land, unpack, and work from the home the same evening.

Should I leave personal items in my condo when renting it furnished?

As few as possible. Guests settle better into a neutral home, and anything you would mind losing should leave the unit before the first booking. The useful basics, such as cookware, hangers, and spare linens, should stay.

How much does it cost to furnish a condo for rent?

For a typical empty unit, furnishing runs $3,500 to $5,000 as a single cost, and the furniture is yours. In our experience the higher rent a furnished monthly rental earns tends to cover that outlay within about four months.

Preparing your condo for its first guests