Short Term Rentals

The numbers

Each one links to its source and the day it was checked.

What it is

Short-term rentals mean listing a whole home, apartment or spare room for stays of a few nights at a time, usually through Airbnb or Vrbo, and charging a nightly rate instead of a monthly rent. You can do it with a property you own, or by leasing a unit with the landlord's written permission and subletting it nightly, a model known as rental arbitrage. The work is real operations work: pricing, guest messaging, cleaning turnovers between stays, and staying inside local permit rules.

How it works

1. Check whether it is even legal where you are
   Cities permit, cap or outright ban short-term rentals, and permit fees run from $50 to $2,500 depending on the city. Do this before you spend anything, because a ban makes every other step worthless.
2. Secure a property you may rent nightly
   Either use a home you own, or sign a lease that explicitly allows subletting on a nightly basis. An arbitrage lease needs the deposit plus first month up front, roughly $4,000 to $6,000 on a $2,000-a-month unit.
3. Register for the permit and get the right insurance
   Apply for the local short-term rental permit or registration number, which many cities require in the listing itself. Buy a policy that covers paid guests, since standard homeowner cover commonly excludes business activity.
4. Furnish and kit out the unit
   Budget $5,000 to $9,000 to furnish a two-bedroom with new mid-range furniture, or roughly half that buying secondhand. Add the safety and access basics: a smart lock, smoke and CO detectors, a fire extinguisher and wifi.
5. Photograph it properly and publish the listing
   Professional listing photography costs $300 to $800 and is the single biggest lever on click-through. Publish on Airbnb and Vrbo together rather than one, and set a conservative opening rate to win the first reviews.
6. Set up turnovers and pricing before the first guest
   Line up a cleaner and a turnover process, because every booking creates a same-day changeover you must cover. Dynamic pricing tools reprice nightly against local demand instead of leaving you on a flat rate.
7. Run it on the numbers, not the gross
   Track the platform host fee, cleaning, utilities, insurance, supplies, software, permits and upkeep against revenue every month. The gap between gross bookings and what you keep is where this business is won or lost.

What you need

• A property you may legally rent short-term: one you own, or a lease with the landlord's written permission to sublet nightly
• Confirmation that your city permits short-term rentals, plus the permit or registration number many cities require in the listing
• $5,000 to $20,000 in startup cash for furnishing, deposits, setup and a reserve
• Insurance that covers paying guests, since standard homeowner policies commonly exclude business activity
• A cleaner or a turnover system able to handle same-day changeovers
• Two to three months of fixed costs in reserve, because occupancy is seasonal and the first months are the thinnest

The gear

The catch

Where the work is

Every number on this page

12 facts, each with its source and the day it was checked.

Researched 2026-10-23. Back to every hustle