Getting ready / Owner guide
Holiday rental setup checklist: from empty rental to holiday home
How Galatea Residence went from an empty rental to a holiday home, and the checklist we use for every new home.
How Peachy manages homes
By Tom Antonie, CEO and co-founderUpdated 6 min readCoastal Cottage, Capel Sound
- Stages from empty to booked
- 5
- Sets of linen for every bed
- 2
- Victorian levy on stays under 28 nights
- 7.5%
The short answer
To set up a holiday rental, decide who will stay, then furnish for them: good beds, a full kitchen, outdoor seating and the safety basics. Check Victoria’s levy and your council’s rules. Then photograph the home, write the listing and price every night before the first booking.
01 / A real story / Williamstown
Galatea Residence: from an empty rental to a holiday home
Galatea’s owner came to us for honest advice about what to do with an empty rental in Williamstown. Breony and Ellie helped take the home from bare rooms to an equipped holiday business: the furniture, the guest essentials, the photos and the listing.
In the owner’s own published review, they describe a quick change, done within their budget, with our connections and coordination pulling it together. Here is the checklist behind it, in the order we work through it with every new owner.
…from an empty rental to a fully equipped and ready to go business
02 / Stage 1 / Honest advice
Decide who the home is for before you buy a single towel
Every choice that follows depends on the guest. A family needs bunk beds, a big table and somewhere to dry towels. Couples want a great bed, a bath and somewhere to sit with a drink. Groups want bedrooms of a similar size, so nobody feels short-changed.
We look at the home, the street and the town, then tell you who will book it and what they will expect to find. It saves money too: you buy for the guests you will actually get, not for everyone, and the home feels made for the people staying in it.
03 / Stage 2 / Setup
The setup checklist we use for every new home
Furnish for the number of guests the home sleeps, then add a little more. Guests notice the basics first, so this is where money is best spent. Here is what we check in every home before it opens.
- 1
Sleep
Good mattresses, two sets of linen for every bed, blackout blinds and spare pillows.
- 2
Kitchen
Plates, glasses and chairs for everyone the home sleeps, a coffee machine and proper knives.
- 3
Outside
Seating for everyone, shade, a barbecue and lighting for the evening.
04 / Stage 3 / Safety and the rules
Check the safety basics, Victoria’s levy and your council’s rules
Start with safety: working smoke alarms, a fire blanket, pool gates that close on their own and clear house rules. Then the rules. From 1 January 2025, Victoria charges a 7.5% levy on stays shorter than 28 nights, worked out on the total booking fee.
Some councils have their own rules for short stays too, so check with yours before your first booking. We help you work through what applies, so your first booking starts on the right foot.
7.5%
Victorian levy on stays under 28 nights
From 1 January 2025, on the total booking fee.
05 / Stage 4 / Ready to be seen
Photograph the home only when it is completely ready
Photos are the first thing a guest judges, so they come last in the setup. Every bed made, every lamp on, the table set. We shoot the rooms, the light and the reasons to stay, then make a short film for Instagram, like the one for Casa del Sol in Sorrento.
Then we write the listing around the guest you chose in stage one, and put it on Airbnb, other booking sites and our own website, so it can be found everywhere guests look, with the same story in each place.
06 / Stage 5 / Launch
Launch week: prices, first guests and first reviews
Before the listing goes live, every night gets its own price from PricingHub, the pricing tool our founders built, and our team checks it. Your own weeks are blocked out first.
The first reviews matter most, so we look after the first guests closely, ask for their feedback and fix small things fast. You can watch it all in your owner portal from day one: bookings, reviews and costs, with your portfolio manager a message away. By the end of the first month, you will know how the home is booking.
Second year in a row we have stayed here and would highly recommend. The team is really easy to communicate with and the place is well furnished
Real Peachy homes
Homes set up for the guests who book them
Talk to the team
Have an empty home, or one that needs a refresh?
Tell us about it. We’ll walk through it with you, say honestly what it needs and show you the costs before you decide anything.
Aurelia, Dromana
Questions owners ask about getting ready
Do I have to buy everything new?
No. We use what already works and tell you honestly what to replace. Beds, linen and the kitchen are where guests notice quality most, so that is usually where money is best spent. You see the recommended list and its cost before you buy anything, and you can source items yourself if you prefer.
Who organises the furniture and setup?
We can. For Galatea, Breony and Ellie coordinated the furniture, the guest essentials and the photos, using the suppliers and trades we work with. You see the recommended work and costs before you decide, and you can do as much or as little of it yourself as you like.
Do I need to register with my council?
Some councils have their own rules for short stays, and they differ from council to council. Check with yours before your first booking, and we will help you work through what applies to your home and what you need to have in place before guests arrive.
What is the short stay levy?
From 1 January 2025, Victoria charges a 7.5% levy on stays shorter than 28 nights, worked out on the total booking fee. The State Revenue Office says booking platforms or hosts collect it. It is a government charge, separate from any manager’s fee, and our fees guide explains how it fits with GST.
When should photos be taken?
Only when the home is completely ready, with every bed made and every room finished. Photos taken halfway through setup undersell the home for every booking that follows, and a reshoot costs more than waiting an extra week for the last delivery.
How long does setup take?
It depends on how much the home needs. An already furnished home can be ready quickly; an empty one takes longer, mostly while furniture arrives. We give you a plan with the steps in order, so you know what happens when, who is doing it and what it costs.
Can I keep using the home myself?
Yes. Tell us the weeks you want before we open the calendar, and we block them out first. At eligible homes you can plan your own stays in the owner portal, and your portfolio manager can help with anything else, including stays for family and friends.
More guides for Peachy owners
All owner guides →By region · 6 min readAirbnb management on the Mornington Peninsula, town by town
What guests want in each Peninsula town, and who looks after your home.
Earnings and pricing · 7 min readHoliday home management fees explained, line by line
What a fee covers, what sits outside it, and how GST and the levy fit in.
Earnings and pricing · 7 min readPricing your Peninsula holiday home for summer: one real night
A real New Year’s Day night, priced step by step: $653 to $1,313.How we worked this out
Galatea’s story and the owner’s words are from the owner’s published Google review of Peachy. We don’t show a before photo, a budget or a timeline, because the owner didn’t publish one. The rest of the homes pictured are live Peachy homes, checked on our website on 11 November 2026.
The levy details come from the State Revenue Office Victoria, checked on 11 November 2026. We don’t list council rules or fees here, because they differ between councils and change over time. The checklist is the one our team uses when we prepare a home, shortened to the items guests notice first. Your own home gets the full list, room by room, after our walkthrough with you.
Limits: Every home is different. Your council’s rules and the work your home needs are confirmed for your home, not by this guide.
Written by Tom and the Peachy team. Updated 11 November 2026.