"Turnkey" is the word that sells operating STRs — and the word that creates the most closing-table chaos, because a turnkey sale has three moving parts a normal residential closing never touches.
Furniture, linens, kitchenware, smart locks, the hot tub — worth far more in place and operating than at an estate sale, but only if handled cleanly. Best practice: a separate bill of sale alongside the purchase contract, backed by the room-by-room inventory, valued around 30–50% of original cost depending on age. Keep it separate for a reason: appraisers ignore personal property, and large FF&E numbers inside a financed contract price can complicate the buyer's loan. It also matters to the buyer's cost-segregation position. Structure it with your broker and the parties' attorneys — your job is arriving with the inventory and a defensible number.
Decide the policy before the first showing and disclose the calendar early. A buyer discovering peak-week bookings mid-escrow, with no plan attached, smells risk.
Airbnb and Vrbo listings, reviews, and Superhost status do not transfer — platform terms of service tie them to the seller's account. The buyer starts a new listing at zero reviews. Never let your marketing imply otherwise: "established listing with 200 five-star reviews" is a misrepresentation claim with your name on it. What conveys is the revenue history, the property, the FF&E, and the playbook — sell that. And package the handoffs: cleaner and vendor introductions, smart-lock and tech transfer, the house manual.
Go deeper: The STR Contract Clause Library (booking-transfer and FF&E language, attorney review noted) and Buying a Turnkey Airbnb — the buyer's side of the same closing.
ACTION: Build a one-page "turnkey closing" checklist — FF&E bill of sale, bookings policy, ToS disclosure, handoff list — and have your broker or an attorney review it once. Then it rides on every STR file.
Next lesson: the insurance gap — what to flag, what never to advise, and the sentence that keeps you in your lane.