# Guest House Financial Model

Tech-enabled home staging platform + furniture resale marketplace for residential real estate sellers

- Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/guest-house
- Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/guest-house.xlsx
- Category: Marketplace
- Model type: SaaS ARR / Valuation
- Funding round: Seed
- Funding: $30M
- Founded: 2021
- Geography: Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, San Diego (staging ops); marketplace available nationally [DECK slide 15]
- Customer: B2B

## About the company

Guest House is a technology-enabled home-staging platform that also turns staged rooms into shoppable furniture experiences. Designers stage homes for sellers and realtors, buyers can purchase the furnishings, and local makers contribute products to the supply network.

The company operates in four markets, reported 270% year-to-date revenue growth, and had more than 500 makers in its network. It earns recurring staging fees starting at $1,050 per month per home, plus commission when staged furniture is sold through the retail marketplace.

The model treats staging and retail as separate operating segments. Homes staged, engagement duration, and fee per project build service revenue; furniture sell-through, average order value, and commission build marketplace revenue. Designer capacity, logistics, furniture cycling, market launches, and shared technology costs determine contribution margin.

## What's included

- 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions
- Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule
- Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking
- Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check
- Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR
- Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention

## Product & value proposition

Three integrated modules:

1. **Stage** - Order staging online; interior designers handle project planning, mood boards, and in-person install. Furniture sourced from premium brand partners (Crate & Barrel, Joybird, APT2B). Turnaround as fast as one week. Free listing photography + optional 3D tour/video.
2. **Shop (Retail)** - Staged properties become shoppable rooms; home buyers scan a QR code to purchase furnishings in situ. Deeper discounts applied as items cycle through more stagings ("up to 60% off").
3. **Make** - Network of 500+ "Guest House Makers" (local artisans/makers) whose products are featured in stagings.

Payment: Affirm BNPL integration at checkout; full staging price visible in UI as $5,400 with $233/month Affirm option.

## Market

- 6.5 million homes sold in the US annually
- 31% of those homes are staged
- Home staging market = $5 billion annually
- No SAM, SOM, or growth rate stated in deck

## Revenue model

Two streams:

**Stream 1 - Staging fees (B2B, from Realtors/sellers)**
- Starting price: $1,050/month per staged home
- Full example checkout price visible as $5,400 (likely multi-month engagement)
- Geographic footprint: hundreds of zip codes across 4 markets

**Stream 2 - Marketplace commission (B2C, from furniture resale)**
- Commission on sale of goods when staged furniture is purchased by home buyers or through the resale platform
- Available nationally
- Discount mechanics: prices decline as items are restaged more times ("deeper discounts applied" on each cycle)
- Affirm BNPL also available on marketplace purchases ($168/month at 0% APR example)

## Traction & metrics

- **270% revenue increase YTD**
- **12** full-time employees
- **500+** Guest House Makers in network
- **73** average customer NPS score
- **4** markets (Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, San Diego)
- **30+** Guest House Designers on roster

No absolute revenue figure, no customer count, no GMV, no order volume stated.

## Unit economics

Implied data points only:
- Staging fee floor: $1,050/month
- Example order value: $5,400
- Furniture resale example: $1,899 (marked down from $2,499)

## Competition / moat

- Positioning: traditional staging lacks technology, consistency, and consumer experience
- Differentiation vs. traditional stagers: tech platform, premium brand partners, in-house designers, free photography, BNPL
- No named competitors; no competitive matrix in deck
- Moat implied by: brand partnerships (Crate & Barrel, Joybird, APT2B), designer network (30+), maker network (500+), and proprietary platform + QR-code shoppable room integration

## Team & funding ask / use of funds

**Team (slide 19):**
- Alex Ryden - Founder & CEO
- Jon Sakas - CTO
- Bret Sundberg - Director of Design
- Elliot Hasse - Head of Creative
- Reed Van Dyck - Operations Manager
- Addie Sweeney - Operations Coordinator
- Aly Weaver - Growth Manager
- Stang Gappa - Head of Growth

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## Recommended financial model

**Archetype + why:**
Dual-stream marketplace P&L - staging is a recurring subscription-like services revenue line (B2B, geography-constrained) and marketplace resale is a commission-on-GMV line (B2C, national). Neither fits a pure SaaS ARR model (staging has physical ops costs) nor a pure DTC model. Best built as a two-segment operating model with a shared cost base (designers, logistics, tech).

**Forecast horizon & granularity:**
- 3 years (2022–2024), monthly in Year 1, quarterly in Years 2–3
- Year 1 granularity needed to model market expansion cadence

**Key drivers & assumptions:**

*Staging revenue:*
- Active staged homes per market at any time
- Average staging duration (months per engagement)
- Monthly staging fee per home: $1,050 floor, blended ASP likely $1,500–$2,500
- Market expansion pace:
- Designer capacity per market

*Marketplace / resale revenue:*
- Furniture inventory volume (units cycling through staging)
- Sell-through rate on retired staging inventory
- Average resale price per item
- Take rate / commission % on resale

*Costs:*
- COGS (furniture procurement/depreciation, designer labor, logistics, photography)
- Headcount growth
- Marketing / CAC
- Tech/platform opex

**Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):**
- **Base:** 1 new market/year, staging utilization at 70%, marketplace sell-through 55%, blended ASP ~$1,800/mo
- **Bull:** 2 new markets/year, BNPL drives higher conversion, marketplace GMV accelerates with national brand; NPS 73 drives strong word-of-mouth
- **Bear:** Market expansion delayed (ops bottleneck), sell-through slow on resale inventory, furniture procurement costs spike

**Required sheets / outputs:**
1. Assumptions dashboard (all drivers in one place)
2. Staging revenue model (markets × homes × ASP × duration)
3. Marketplace GMV & commission model (inventory volume × sell-through × price × take rate)
4. Consolidated P&L (revenue, COGS, gross profit, opex, EBITDA)
5. Headcount plan (FTE by role, tied to market expansion)
6. Cash flow & runway (given likely pre-profitability stage)
7. KPI summary (NPS, active homes, designers, markets - for board reporting)

## Frequently asked questions

### Is the Guest House financial model free?

Yes. The Guest House model is a free Excel download with live formulas.

### Can I change the assumptions?

Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.