Craigslist; eBay.

Retail: HomeGoods.

Bedding is expensive, esp. sheets. I rent my house as well (Cape Cod) and tenants are tough on stuff. Get new mattresses and encase them (boxes and mattresses) to prevent bedbugs and to protect the cleanliness of the mattresses.

But bedding,buy used, ask friends for any they don't use anymore, etc. But, get 100% cotton so that your guests are comfortable. For blankets, get 100% cotton and/or wool.

For pillow cases, go to the Web site below and order the batch of 20 100% cotton cases, so you have a stash on hand. They are crisp and cool and wonderful. Only thing is, make sure you either take them out of the dryer right away and snap them, or, better, hang them on a line to dry while you're getting the rest of the house ready for new tenants coming in. They wrinkle badly because they are all cotton and don't have the anti-wrinkle stuff in them. They are GREAT pillow cases.

Finally, also buy a stash of 100% cotton pillow protectors. I get them from Overstock.

Get pillows from either Ikea or HomeGoods. Pillows you also obviously want to buy new.

Thanks Tibbrix ! Do you have any tips? I am new to this. We will have a local rental management company handling it but the house is new to the rental market so I have to get it up to speed hopefully start to build up a repeat customer base.

I live far away and will depend on a cleaning service. I know from experience as a renter, their work can be spotty. Any tips on making the house fool proof in that regard? Are all your bed spreads/quilts etc machine washable?

I don't have a rental but do live in a humid, beachy area. I used to be all about plushy, fluffy bedding and towels but they just aren't practical in the humidity. You have to hang thick towels extremely carefully so they will dry and when you do wash, the dryer runs forever.

From a rental standpoint this would effect your electric bill. Thick towels that aren't hung properly will get a mildew smell that is hard to get rid of and will need to be replaced more often.

I recently bought some quick dry towels from Target. They feel nice and aren't too thick. Not sure how durable they are as I have not had them very long.

myrtle, email me (click on my profile).

Happy to give you tips. I've been doing it for years.

Deee is correct. Tenants are VERY abusive when it comes to utility bills, esp. the dryer. They don't care. I swear they wash, and dry, one item at a time. It's maddening.

Home Goods, Marshall's, TJ Maxx. They all seem to have beachy themed and/or colored quilts around this time of year and all are light and inexpensive.

Also, Overstock!

We bought a house on Cape Cod last year at this time. We bought all new beds and upholstered furniture. Like Tibbix said, we encased the mattresses, pillows and boxsprings in waterproof protectors.

We had a rental agency handle all of the details and had a robust first year with 7 weeks of rentals, despite our late entry into the market. We hired a cleaning crew, gardener, landscaper, etc. We did not provide linens last summer.

This year, using the same agent, we have been fully booked since January (I take one prime week in July when I have vacation time). We listed it as having linens provided. I bought 10 sets of sheets and towels (all white) from JCPenney, based on reviews. We tried them and liked them so I will be buying more. We have arranged for our cleaning crew to launder the linens.

For quilts and comforters we used some that we had here and bought some new (TJ Maxx). We bought all new blankets (including extras to keep in the closets).

Good luck on the new venture!

Thanks Sueb and BonnieAnn!

BonnieAnn, Did you buy all new beds and upholstered furniture because you did not have any or because you did not want to use older things? Our house came furnished and had never been rented so I was planning to use the things that came with it including mattresses but I do plan to provide linens to help get customers.

Use whatever the house came with, except for a few items.

I'd get new mattresses for adult beds. But good luck with that. The mattress industry is beyond sleazy. At the very least, get mattress covers to encase them, as well as new mattress pads.

Get rid of any upholstered dining chairs, and look for hardwood chairs, no caning. The best are old school chairs and library chairs. They last forever, and you can just wipe them down.

I'm also leery of used upholstered sofas. I don't have a problem with chairs, since people sit upright on them. But people sleep on sofas, lie down and nap on them, drool on them andâ¦.worse. If the house came with a good sofa, you can always just have a new cushion made for it and a slipcover. That's what I'd do. Again, problem with new stuff. It's junk nowadays, unless you pay a fortune, which you don't want to do for tenant-use furniture.

We bought all new just for the simplicity of one-stop shopping. We then spent (and still spend) weekends hunting antique stores. We bought dressers from CL dealers in Boston and rented a truck to take them to the Cape. We have enjoyed the process of filling in with our "finds"!

This morning I was looking online at a lake house in Maine that comes fully furnished. I would be ok with that-use what you like and chuck the rest.

The rental agent did make a big deal of the fact that all the beds and upholstered pieces are brand new. I'm not sure how much impact it had on renting so quickly.

Our house was totally empty. The previous owners had already moved out and had the floors and walls redone.
We had very little to do. We repainted the master bath and the living room. That's the extent of what we had to do. We bought it the first day it hit the market!

Ikea has some thin towels that dry quickly. I have been pretty happy with ending from them as well, though the really cheap sheets are stiff. (Also a good source for inexpensive mattresses, dishes, etc).

When it comes to inexpensive, washable, durable bedding sets, you can't beat walmart....

We don't rent our place, and others have already mentioned some of the best places to find good bedding at reasonable prices...TJ Maxx (great for decent pillows, bedding, accessories), Costco for plain white towels and sheets, Target for sheets and towels and not bad for washable quilts and shams and other accessories either. Ebay for Pottery Barn washable quilts or other 'beachy' bedding. Buy the cheapest washcloths and towels you can buy. Your renters (or even family members) won't care what they do to your stuff. Any of it.

I have bought several Greenland quilts from Amazon and have been very pleased with them. They are not expensive and wash nicely.

If you are going to buy mattress and pillow protectors, please buy decent ones. (True confession ahead). We have rented a lake house for the past several years, and the owners have the most vile vinyl mattress and pillow covers on their beds. They are horrible to sleep on - they are noisy and crinkly and sweaty. I confess that dh and I take them off as soon as we arrive and throw them in the bottom of the closet. We put them on again before we leave.

Carrie

Agree, Carrie. That is why I suggested that, when it comes to bedding, she get only 100% cotton and wool.

Renting a home is a balancing act: You want your guests to be comfortable, and you want to enjoy the house and write good reviews, and they want that as well, but homeowners want tenants to appreciate these details and show the same care for their house they would their own, but unfortunately, that is often not the case.

And let me add to this that, the flip side of the bad tenant is the bad homeowner, who takes top dollar for rent, then puts the cheapest junk they can find in the house, like your plastic mattress protectors. (Those are different, btw, from bedbug protectors. Those fully encase the mattress and box spring, then the mattress pad goes over it.

I take very seriously the fact that I'm taking people's money for a week's vacation and assume they want to be comfortable and able to relax. I've had some wonderful tenants who've taken pristine care with the house. Othersâ¦wellâ¦.Cost of doing bidness.

This post was edited by Tibbrix on Mon, Apr 28, 14 at 11:20

Yes, Tibbrix, that is exactly the balancing act I am trying to achieve. I want it to be nice enough to get repeat tenants who come every year. I have been such a vacationer who always tried to rent the same place. It wasn't a luxurious place but I liked it and began to feel some ownership in it and affection for the owners whom I have never met. On the flip side, last winter we rented a pet friendly house where the owners apparently thought the fact that they supplied a roof was sufficient. Nothing worked, nothing was well maintained or cleaned and I have to say many tenants must have felt pet friendly meant anything goes as there were pet stains apparent all over the carpet. We pet owners do not let the animals treat the house like a barn ...

Anyway, I am looking for that balance.

Oh Myrtle, I allow dogs (absolutely no cats!), and I'm also a dog sitter, and I can assure you that people will say whatever they think you want to hear when they want to bring their dog on vacation with them. Oh, they're perfect little bugaboos! At first I didn't charge for dogs (face it, toddlers do more destruction - or equal), but now I do, $100 per. I've also noticed that a lot of people actually think they should be able to bring their dog with them at no extra charge, which just floors me, considering they'd have to pay a kennel or dog sitter, which is MUCH worse than the fun of bringing Fido with you!

So, yes, it's definitely a balancing act, and you try to hit that right cord. I'm amazed how many people have admitted to me that, when they go on vacation, they'll open windows and leave the AC on, for example because "I don't care." I'm putting central air in this spring, and I've got it in my rA that they're not getting their security deposit back if they do that. We've become so wasteful and unthinking about how our actions affect others, in this culture (obviously not everyone, but as a culture, we have). I find it so disheartening. Why does it take energy to think about how you're impacting someone or something else???

Same as, why is it so hard, as a homeowner, to consider that you are taking people's money, and they're paying to because they want a vacation, i.e.: relaxing time. Put some oomph into making your property a place you'd want to stay in yourself. That is the test.

It's the ol' "Do unto othersâ¦" rule. NOT that difficult!

I agree with you. Thrift is no longer admired.

We will only have stayed there 2 weeks when we put it on the market this June. I think we will get it in much better shape after we spend the winter there. I hope my renters will like something well enough to be patient.

How will you know if they leave the windows open with the A/C on?

My neighbors have a very astute 12 year old daughter who doesn't miss a beat! Ha ha.

Lol. Always good to be on good terms with the neighbors!

We have just begun traveling with our dog. We determined not to board this one for all our sakes. We have done ok with motels but the rental cottage experience was not good. That is about half the reason we have bought this place instead of renting. It is slim pickings some places when you are looking for pet friendly.

Tib,
Did you post where you buy the pillowcases from? I'll have to admit, I pretty much skimmed this thread, but I didn't see the link if it is there.

Oh, sorry, bbstx. I did forget to post the link.

Here it is. $2.50 per pillowcase. Awesome deal, and they're the crisp, cool awesome cottonâ¦but they wrinkle! Get 'em out of the dryer ASAP, or better yet ,hang them to dry on a line. I don't care about wrinkles. humidity and body heat will take care of them. And because of the wrinkles, I know I'm sleeping on 100% cotton with no chemicals. I hang mine to dry, and they aren't wrinkled and smell like heaven.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bulk Pillowcases

myrtle, Cape Cod, in places, actually has an industry devoted to "dog tourism". Provincetown in fact was voted "Dog Town USA" by Dog Fancy Magazine in 2010, and it continues to reign at the top of the list. That town is mad about dogs. Shop owners leave dog bowls with water in them outside for canine passersby; more and more hotels are allowing pets with links to dog walkers for when the owner is at the beach or whatever. Dogs are worshipped there. It's so awesome. And the dog owners there are the best dog owners. They fastidiously clean up after them (I moved up Cape a couple of years ago, and it seems like it is downright against the law to pick up your dog's poop where I am now!) and make sure their dogs behave civilly. It's really great. Even the Town accommodates. In the summer, dogs can run free on town beaches from 6 a.m. - 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.