Shortlet Startup Costs: A Checklist to Budget With

Before you start a shortlet, write down every cost. There are one-off costs to get the flat ready, and monthly costs to keep it running. Fill in your own quotes, add a buffer for quiet months, and check the sums before you spend a naira.

This checklist has blanks, not prices. Prices for furniture, power and labour change fast, and they differ from street to street. A number printed here would soon mislead you. So get two or three quotes for each line where you live, and write the best one in the blank.

One-off costs

These are the things you pay for once, before your first guest arrives. Tick what applies to you, and write your quote next to it.

Getting the flat

Leasing adds the biggest bill at the start. Move-in costs when renting in Nigeria explains each fee a new tenant pays.

Furniture and fittings

• Beds and good mattresses: ₦________
• Sofa, armchair and coffee table: ₦________
• Dining table and chairs: ₦________
• Wardrobes or clothes rails, and hangers: ₦________
• Curtains or blinds that block early light: ₦________
• Bedside tables, lamps and a long mirror: ₦________
• Television and stand: ₦________

Linen, towels and bathroom

• At least two sets of sheets and pillowcases for every bed: ₦________
• Mattress and pillow protectors: ₦________
• Two sets of bath and hand towels for each guest the flat sleeps: ₦________
• Bath mats, shower curtain, bins and toilet brushes: ₦________

Kitchen

• Cooker or hob, and a gas cylinder: ₦________
• Fridge with a freezer: ₦________
• Microwave, kettle and toaster: ₦________
• Pots, pans, plates, cups, glasses and cutlery: ₦________
• Water dispenser or filter: ₦________

Power, cooling and water

• Air conditioners or strong fans for every bedroom: ₦________
• Inverter and batteries, or solar panels: ₦________
• Generator, if you need one: ₦________
• Stabilisers and surge protectors: ₦________
• Prepaid meter, if the flat does not have one: ₦________
• Water pump, tank and filter: ₦________

Power is where Nigerian shortlets win or lose guests. Guests will ask how many hours of light they get. Price the backup you really need, not the cheapest one.

Internet, security and safety

• Wi-Fi router and installation: ₦________
• Good door locks, or a keypad lock, and spare keys: ₦________
• Security lights, and a camera at the entrance if your estate allows it: ₦________
• Fire extinguisher, smoke alarm and first-aid kit: ₦________

Getting ready to sell

• Clear, bright photos of every room: ₦________
• A printed welcome sheet with house rules and Wi-Fi steps: ₦________
• First stock of toiletries, toilet roll and cleaning products: ₦________
• Business name registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission, if you trade under a name: ₦________

Add every line above. That is your one-off total. Call it A: ₦________

Monthly running costs

These costs come back every month. Split them into two groups, because they behave differently.

Fixed costs: you pay these even with no guests

• Rent for the month, if you lease (yearly rent ÷ 12): ₦________
• Estate service charge and security levy: ₦________
• Internet data plan: ₦________
• TV subscription, if you offer one: ₦________
• Waste collection: ₦________
• Generator and inverter servicing, spread over the year: ₦________
• Insurance, if you have it: ₦________
• Advertising, and your own phone and data for guest messages: ₦________

Your fixed monthly total. Call it B: ₦________

Busy costs: these grow with every booking

• Cleaning between guests: ₦________ per stay
• Washing and ironing linen and towels: ₦________ per stay
• Toiletries, drinking water and cleaning products: ₦________ per stay
• Electricity units and fuel: ₦________ per night sold
• Water, if you pay for pumping or tanker supply: ₦________ per night sold

Keep the two apart. A quiet month still costs you B in full. The busy costs only arrive when guests do.

Costs people forget

New hosts often budget for the big things and miss the small ones. These are the lines that catch people out:

• Replacing things. Towels stain, glasses break and remote controls disappear. Put a little aside every month.
• Linen wear. Sheets washed after every stay wear out much faster than at home.
• Fuel price swings. Diesel and petrol prices move. Your power cost can rise without warning.
• Your own time. Messages, check-ins and checking on cleaners take hours. If you pay someone later, that is a new cost.
• Nights you use yourself. A family visit blocks nights you could have sold.
• Transport. Getting cleaners, keys and supplies to the flat costs money every week.
• Estate rules. Ask your estate how it handles short-stay visitors, and whether it charges for gate passes.
• Tax. Set part of your income aside. Rental income tax in Nigeria explains the basics.
• Fees where you list. Each site you list on may charge its own fees. Read them before you sign up.
• Waiting for your money. If you are paid after the stay, you pay cleaners and fuel before the money arrives. Keep cash for that gap.

Booking costs on Cabans

If you take bookings online on Cabans, put these in your sums:

• A 5% commission. Cabans charges hosts 5% on bookings. Your payout is what the guest paid for the stay, less any refunds and the 5%.
• No payment fee for you. The guest pays the Paystack payment processing fee on top when they pay. They see it before they pay.
• When you are paid. Within 7 days after the stay, and sooner when the guest approves the payment after their trip.

See how taking bookings online works, then follow how to make your short let bookable step by step.

A buffer for quiet months

A shortlet does not earn the same every month. December is often busy, because many people come home for the holidays. Other months can be slow. Your fixed costs do not stop in a slow month.

So keep a buffer. This is money you save only for quiet months and surprises. It is not spending money.

• Before you open, save at least three months of fixed costs (3 × B).
• In busy months, top the buffer up before you spend the profit.
• Keep a repair fund too. When the inverter batteries die or an air conditioner needs gas, you need the money that week.

Worked example with your own numbers

This is the sum that tells you whether the plan works. It uses letters instead of prices, so you can fill in your own. Take your time over step 3. Most plans fail because the guess of nights sold was too hopeful.

1. One-off total (A): ₦________ (from the first checklist).
2. Fixed monthly total (B): ₦________.
3. Nights you expect to sell in a normal month (N): ____ nights. Start low.
4. Average stay (L): ____ nights. So stays in a month = N ÷ L.
5. Cost of one stay (S): ₦________ (cleaning, laundry, supplies).
6. Power and water for each night sold (P): ₦________.
7. Your night price (R): ₦________. Find it by comparing similar homes near you, for example shortlets in Lekki, Ikeja or Abuja. Compare the same size, the same kind of building and the same power.

Now do the sums:

• Money in for the month = R × N
• Costs for the month = B + (S × stays in a month) + (P × N)
• Left over for the month = money in − costs (before tax)
• Months to earn back your setup = A ÷ left over

Then test a quiet month. Halve N and do the sums again. If “left over” turns negative, your buffer must cover the gap. If it turns negative in most months, the plan does not work yet.

One more check helps. Ask: how many nights must I sell just to cover B? Divide B by what one night really leaves you after its own costs. If the answer is close to the number of nights in the month, the plan is far too tight.

For more on the profit side, read is a shortlet profitable in Nigeria? Then turn your numbers into a plan with the shortlet business plan template.

When the numbers say “not yet”

Sometimes the honest answer is “not yet”. That is useful to know before you spend. Watch for these signs:

• You need to sell most nights of the month just to cover your costs.
• The time to earn back your setup is longer than your lease.
• Nothing is left for a buffer once the flat is ready.
• You are borrowing to furnish, and a quiet month would stop you repaying.

If that is you, change the plan rather than hoping for the best:

• Start smaller. A studio or one-bedroom flat costs less to furnish and power.
• Furnish in stages. Beds, power and cooling first. Extras later, from real income.
• Use a flat you already own. No rent up front changes the sums a lot. Read can I turn my flat into a shortlet?
• Manage for an owner. Becoming a shortlet agent needs far less money up front.
• Let it by the year instead. Compare honestly with short let vs long-term rental.

When your numbers work, list your shortlet on Cabans with clear photos, your night price and your house rules. For the full path from flat to first guest, read how to start a shortlet business in Nigeria.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

Start a shortlet business · Turn your flat into a shortlet · Shortlet business in Lagos · Shortlet house rules template · How much caution fee to charge · Short let vs long-term rental · How to furnish a shortlet apartment · Power, water and internet for a shortlet · Shortlet insurance