Cities Friendly to STR in Denver Metro?

[Riley Wenger]

Hello! I am a real estate agent working with a client to purchase a property to be used as a short term rental. Many of us know that it is tough to do a STR in Denver, but there are some cities in Denver Metro that are open to it. I am curious if anyone has a comprehensive list of cities that are friendly to/allow Short Term Rentals and any specific rules said city imposes (for example, Littleton allows STRs but has very specific rules related to property acreage, etc). If anyone has any city specific info that they are willing to share- I would love to make and share a list of STR regulations by city if someone out there hasn't already created one!!

Here are cities I am currently aware of that allow STRs:

Westminster (no regulations)

Arvada

Littleton (with specific property guidelines)

Wheat Ridge (although rules seem unclear) 

Cities I am currently aware of that do not easily allow STRs:

Denver (allowed, but must be owner occupied)

Edgewater (very specific owner occupancy rules)

Lakewood

Morrison

Cheers!

Riley 

[James Carlson]

Great post @Riley Wenger. It's good to crowd source this stuff sometimes.

Thanks for the shout out @Kevin Smith.

Yeah, Westminster is like some other Denver-area cities -- including Lakewood -- that technically allow them but I would not consider that a regulatory certainty going forward. I always distinguish between a city that actively allows Airbnb investment properties and a city that allows them only through a lack of prohibition. (Lakewood for instance has been considering a proposal that would limit Airbnbs to your primary residence.)

If you've already got a place in one of these cities, great, keep squeezing out STR money while you can. But if you're looking to buy something new, I'd buy in a city that gives you some regulatory certainty.

Colorado Springs is a great example of why this is important. In 2019, they voted to allow Airbnb investments. My wife and I got a license on a property of ours. In 2020, they voted to prohibit them, but anyone with a legal license was grandfathered in. (We don't use our license all the time; sometimes we operate it as a medium-term rental, but it's nice to have for the future when we may want to operate it as an Airbnb.)

The city of Littleton, which @Peter Jakel mentioned, is another great example. They are about to reverse course on a 2020 law that allowed non-owner occupied STRs. (I just posted about that here.) But everyone who is operating with a legally obtained license will be grandfathered in as a "non conforming use." 

If you're operating in a city that allows Airbnb in non-owner occupied homes only through a lack of prohibition, how will they handle existing but unlicensed Airbnbs if/when the city votes to prohibit them?