A short–term rental is typically defined as a rental of any residential home unit or accessory building for a short period of time. This generally includes stays of less than a month (30 days), but the maximum length can vary depending on the state and jurisdiction in which the rental is located.
Such rentals are also sometimes referred to as transient rentals, vacation rentals, short-term vacation rentals, and resort dwelling units. So, the answer to a question like “What is a short-term rental?” may well include terms like these depending on the location, agency, or organization with which you’re dealing.
What are the different types of short-term rentals?
Short-term rentals are often divided into different categories, such as entire homes, accessory dwellings or individual rooms. If the owner designates the property as their homestead 51% of the time or more, it’s usually considered an owner-occupied dwelling. If not, the property would be considered a non-owner-occupied dwelling.
Entire homes
A rental property can be considered a short-term rental if the owner spends most of the time there but occasionally rents out the whole home for a few days or weeks, up to a maximum number of days per year.
Additionally, if an absentee owner rents out their property for short stays, up to a given number of days per year, that would also be considered a short-term rental.
Accessory dwellings
If an owner were to rent out a portion of a property they live in – such as a guest house or garage apartment – for short periods of time that, too, would be considered a short-term rental.
If an absentee owner were to rent out similar accessory dwellings for a given number of days per year on a property they own but do not live in, that also would be considered a short-term rental.
Rooms
If an owner rents out one or more rooms in their primary home for short stays, up to a maximum number of days per year, that’s considered a short-term rental.
If an owner were to do this but live off-site at a different property, it would still be considered a short-term rental.
What does the future of short-term rentals look like?
The continued popularity of companies like Airbnb and Vrbo show that short-term rentals aren’t just a big-city phenomenon. There is now a global boom, with the number of listings for short-term rental properties growing every year with hundreds of different short-term rental websites in existence.
Considering the growth of the sharing industry, it’s becoming more and more important for communities to engage with all stakeholders in the short-term rental industry. Studies show most short-term rental owners/operators are unaware of the rules around compliance and community preservation issues. Our short-term rental host compliance software opens the lines of communication driving higher compliance rates.