Short answer: Furniture rental vs. buying when you land — which one wins when you are moving to Miami? Run the real numbers and the answer is a calendar, not a taste: a complete 1-bedroom furniture rental on a 12-month lease typically runs US$240–295 a month before fees, according to CORT, the largest U.S. furniture rental company — and about US$324 a month once you add its 12% protection plan and Miami-Dade’s 7% tax. Buying a basic new setup starts around US$2,000 plus 7% tax (US$2,140), which puts the cash break-even at roughly 7 months: rent if your horizon is shorter than that, or if your own furniture is still in transit from Mexico; buy if you are staying 17 months or more, because by then rent has burned about US$5,500 and you own nothing.
Updated: October 17, 2026.
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Moving to Miami: furniture rental vs. buying, the real monthly math
The mistake I see every week is comparing a rental’s sticker price against a store’s sticker price. Neither sticker is the price. Rental adds a protection plan and tax on top of the monthly rent — and furniture rental is taxed in Florida, because the state taxes the rental of tangible personal property at the same combined 7% Miami-Dade rate as a purchase. Buying adds tax, delivery and assembly on top of the tag — and a bed frame is not a bed. Here is the comparison built from published prices, with my calculations labeled as such.
| Line item | Rent (CORT, 1-bedroom package) | Buy new (basic setup) |
|---|---|---|
| Base price | US$240–295/month on a 12-month lease (official CORT range); a shorter lease costs more per month | US$2,000–13,000 one time to furnish an apartment, depending on size and style (CORT’s own published range) |
| Protection / extras | Customer Protection Plan: 12% of base rent per month (waivable only with an insurance certificate naming CORT as loss payee); it does not cover theft or pet damage | No monthly plan — but delivery, assembly and any warranty are separate lines |
| Tax | 7% Miami-Dade on the monthly payment — furniture rental is taxable in Florida | 7% Miami-Dade on the purchase price |
| All-in example (SETTLE calculation) | At US$270 base: US$270 + US$32.40 plan + US$21.17 tax = US$323.57/month, plus a one-time delivery, setup and pickup fee shown at checkout | At the US$2,000 basic level: US$2,000 + US$140 tax = US$2,140, before delivery and assembly |
| Total at 3 / 6 / 12 months | ≈US$971 / ≈US$1,941 / ≈US$3,883 at the 12-month rate — a floor, since short leases price higher | US$2,140 once — and you own it at every horizon |
| At the end | They pick it up. You own nothing | You own it — and you also own the resale, donation or storage problem if you leave |
Two anchors keep the buying column honest. IKEA’s official U.S. price for a MALM queen bed frame is US$249 — with the mattress and the slatted base sold separately, so the first “bed” a newcomer budgets is usually three purchases, not one. And on the rental side, CORT publishes monthly minimums as low as US$150 on a 12-month lease — but that is a cart minimum, not the complete three-room package above. Compare package to package, never minimum to package. If you are still deciding what to ship and what to leave behind, start with my guide to moving from Mexico to Miami: what to bring, what to sell, what it costs and how long it takes.
The decision rule: your horizon decides, not the showroom
| Your situation | My call | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Staying under ~7 months, work assignment with an uncertain end, or testing a neighborhood | Rent | Total rental cost stays below the US$2,140 basic purchase, and pickup replaces the resale problem entirely |
| Your own furniture is coming from Mexico but has not arrived | Rent 1–3 months as a bridge | Household effects used abroad for at least one year can enter the U.S. duty-free with CBP Form 3299 — the shipment is worth waiting for; buying duplicates you will sell at a loss in 90 days is not |
| Staying 7–17 months | Buy basic or used | Past ~7 months the cash math flips: every extra rental month is pure burn against a basic set you could already own |
| Staying 17+ months or relocating for good | Buy | At ~17 months rent reaches ≈US$5,501 — the with-tax price of a mid-range US$5,000 setup — with zero asset at the end |
The third path deserves one honest line: renting an already-furnished apartment bundles the furniture into the rent and removes both decisions — but you pay the landlord’s furnishing premium for the entire lease, including the months after a rental package would have been returned. For the full picture of what the move itself costs before furniture enters the chat, read the real cost of an international move to Miami.
What most people don’t know
1. Your rental payments do not buy the furniture — this is not rent-to-own. CORT’s official terms are explicit: you may purchase the pieces you rented only after completing at least 50% of your signed lease term or a minimum of 3 months, whichever is greater, at a discounted price — and monthly rental payments do not apply toward that purchase price. Twelve months at US$324 is US$3,883 paid and US$0 of credit toward owning the sofa you have been sitting on. Some newer rental services do credit payments toward a buyout; the two models look identical in an ad and are opposites in a contract. Read which one you are signing before you assume your rent is building toward ownership.
2. The sticker month is missing about a fifth of the price. On a US$270 base, the 12% protection plan and the 7% Florida tax on furniture rental compound to US$323.57 — roughly 19.8% above the advertised month — and your first payment also carries the prorated first month plus the one-time delivery, setup and pickup fee. None of this is hidden; all of it is below the headline. Budget the all-in month, not the banner month, or furniture silently eats the deposit money you needed for the apartment itself.
3. “Furniture” does not mean a working home — housewares are a separate line. Rental packages cover the big pieces: sofa, tables, bed, dresser, lamps. Kitchen equipment, dishes, linens, towels and bath basics are typically a separate housewares package or your own purchase. Newcomers discover this at 9 p.m. on day one, in an apartment with a beautiful rented sofa and nothing to cook with or sleep under. Either price the housewares package into the comparison or put a kitchen-and-linens kit on your first shopping run — it is a few hundred dollars that the rental-vs-buying math usually forgets on both sides.
4. In Miami, the building is part of the furniture decision. Many Brickell, Downtown and Coral Gables buildings require reserved elevator slots, delivery windows and a certificate of insurance from whoever brings furniture in. A rental company handles delivery, setup and pickup as its core business and shows up with that paperwork; a flat-pack delivery leaves the elevator reservation, the assembly and the timing to you, in the same week you are opening bank accounts and starting work. That logistics difference — not the furniture — is what a short rental is really buying.
5. Your furniture in Mexico may be duty-free — and still be the slowest option. Under CBP rules (19 CFR 148.52), household effects used abroad for at least one year, for your own use and not for sale, can enter the United States free of duty, declared on Form 3299 with a real inventory. Furniture used for less than a year is dutiable. So the question is never “can I bring it” — it is freight cost plus weeks in transit against a bridge rental of one to three months. Families who buy a full duplicate set in Miami while their own container is crossing almost always end up selling one of the two sets at a loss. Rent the bridge; do not buy it.
6. A 12-month price on a 4-month stay is the most expensive option on this page. The low monthly figures assume a 12-month term; the minimum term is one month, but the monthly price rises as the term shrinks, and a signed furniture lease is a binding contract. If your work authorization, your assignment or your own plans might end the stay early, sign the term that matches your real horizon and pay the honest monthly rate — or confirm the swap, partial-return and early-pickup terms in writing before the truck arrives. Flexibility clauses are the product; the sofa is incidental. For the rest of my newcomer playbooks, browse the SETTLE guides hub for moving to Miami.
Frequently asked questions
Is furniture rental worth it for a full 12-month lease in Miami?
On the official numbers, a complete 1-bedroom rental at the 12-month rate costs about US$3,883 all-in for the year — more than a basic US$2,140 purchase, less than a mid-range setup. It is worth it if the year is genuinely uncertain, if your own furniture is arriving partway through, or if avoiding the end-of-lease resale and disposal problem is worth roughly US$1,700 to you. If the year is certain and the stay continues after it, buying wins.
Can I buy the furniture I have been renting?
With CORT, yes — after you have completed at least 50% of your signed term or 3 months, whichever is greater, at a discounted price. But your rental payments do not count toward that price, so treat the purchase as a separate used-furniture deal and compare it against the same company’s outlet, which sells previously leased furniture at a discount without the months of rent in front of it.
What is the cheapest way to furnish a first Miami apartment?
Buying used and basic-new in a mix: a new mattress (never buy that used), a basic new or previously leased frame and table, and previously leased or second-hand pieces for the rest — while renting only if your horizon is under about 7 months. The one option that is never cheapest is buying everything new in week one under time pressure: delivery fees, assembly and the pieces you misjudge for the space all bill you at once, and returns are harder once a cross-border move is competing for your attention.
Should I rent furniture while I wait for my shipment from Mexico?
Usually, yes — for one to three months. If your household effects were used for at least a year, they can enter duty-free on CBP Form 3299, so the shipment itself is sound; what you are renting is the gap between your arrival and its arrival. Price that gap at the real all-in month (about US$324 on a US$270 base, plus the one-time delivery and pickup fee) and compare it honestly against buying duplicates you will have to sell, store or give away when your own furniture lands.
Yara Coker — SETTLE, relocation services in Miami.
Want help with your move to Miami?
Tell me your arrival date, your apartment size and how long you realistically expect to stay — I will run your rental-vs-buying break-even with your real horizon, tell you whether a bridge rental makes sense while your shipment crosses, and flag the contract clauses to confirm before any furniture truck is booked. The furniture decision is small only until you sign the wrong term; made with the calendar in front of you, it takes ten minutes.
Sources
CORT Furniture Rental, official FAQ and store pages, checked October 2026: a complete 1-bedroom rental on a 12-month lease typically costs about US$240–$295 per month, with shorter leases and additional items costing more; minimum monthly totals can be as low as US$150 on a 12-month lease; the minimum lease term is one month; the initial payment includes the prorated first-month rent plus one-time delivery, setup and pickup fees and any optional services, with the total shown at checkout; the Customer Protection Plan costs 12% of monthly base rent, covers replacement cost for damage or loss from natural disasters or extreme weather, excludes theft, disappearance, gross negligence, misuse, pet damage and abuse, and can be waived with a certificate of insurance naming CORT as loss payee; rented furniture may be purchased after at least 50% of the signed lease term or a minimum of 3 months, whichever is greater, at discounted prices, and monthly rental payments do not apply toward the purchase price; CORT outlets sell previously leased furniture. CORT blog, “Do apartments come furnished?”, checked October 2026: furnishing an apartment costs about US$2,000–$13,000 depending on size, items needed and style. IKEA U.S., official product pages, checked October 2026: MALM bed frame, queen, US$249, with mattress and slatted bed base sold separately; MALM storage bed, queen, US$599. Florida Department of Revenue and FIU Office of the Controller, sales tax guidance, checked October 2026: Miami-Dade’s combined sales tax rate is 7% (6% state plus 1% county surtax), and rentals of furniture, equipment or other tangible personal property remain subject to the 7% tax. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Form 3299 instructions and 19 CFR 148.52, checked October 2026: foreign household effects used abroad for more than one year and declared for the owner’s own use may enter free of duty; effects used less than one year are dutiable; unaccompanied articles are declared on CBP Form 3299 with a supporting inventory. All-in monthly totals, multi-month totals and break-even months are SETTLE calculations from the published base range, the 12% protection plan and the 7% tax; actual quotes vary by package, term, building and delivery address, and shorter leases price above the 12-month rate used here.
Versión en español: Alquilar muebles vs. comprar al llegar
