Legal Vacation Rental Friendly City in Costal Florida? AirBnb?STR

[Traverse Zink]

My family is from Alaska & we're looking for a city in Florida that we can purchase a "legal" vacation rental that we can list on AirBnb and the other sites. Our goal is to get out of AK and warm up a few times per year and rent it out the rest of the time. Many cities in Florida forbid nightly rental under 30 days and it appears that there are lots of illegal rentals getting complaints. I'm looking for a city where I can get the STR license, make a small cash flow and enjoy the property a few times per year. Any advice is much appreciated.

[Villy Ellinger]

@Traverse Zink I would recommend you consider the Emerald Coast on the Panhandle. Vacation rentals are a huge business here and definitely legal. I would suggest look into Navarre Beach, Ft Walton Beach/Okaloosa Island, Destin, Miramar Beach and all along 30A. I'm not a super big fan of Panama City Beach, but would discourage anyone from looking there as well. Occupancy levels are high on the Panhandle  year round, especially since many tourist from the mid-land and southern states can drive here for their family vacation rather than having to fly like they would have to for some of the parts of FL further south. I'm very partial, lol, I live and work here, but definitely check it out. Go on VRBO or Airbnb and look up various vacation rentals in the area and see what people are saying. And yes, with the exception of strictly residential areas, STRs are legal here :-).