Hosting an Airbnb in Miami

Florida requires a state vacation-rental licence (DBPR), layered with highly variable local rules — Miami Beach in particular restricts short-term rentals in many residential zones and enforces steep fines.

• Obtain a Florida DBPR vacation rental licence and register with Miami-Dade County for tourist development tax.
• Local rules vary enormously: Miami Beach restricts short stays in many residential districts and fines aggressively; the City of Miami and other municipalities differ again.
• Collect and remit state sales tax and county tourist development tax.
• Confirm your exact address sits in a zone where short-term rental is permitted — and then confirm the condo or HOA documents agree.

How to start, in order

The sequence matters more than the list. Each step here can invalidate the ones after it, so work down rather than across.

1. 1

   Find out which government you are actually dealing with

   Do this first

   'Miami' is a dozen municipalities. Miami Beach, the City of Miami, Coral Gables, Surfside and unincorporated Miami-Dade each set their own short-term rental rules, and the differences are the whole game. Establish your municipality and your zoning district before you look at a single number.

2. 2

   Read the condo or HOA documents

   Before an offer

   In Miami this fails more deals than zoning does. Many buildings prohibit stays under six months, and a building's rules bind you regardless of what the city permits. Get the declaration and the rules in writing, not a board member's summary.

3. 3

   Get the Florida DBPR vacation rental licence

   Allow several weeks

   The state licences vacation rentals through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. There are separate categories for single properties and for multiple units, and the licence is inspected.

4. 4

   Register for both taxes

   Before your first booking

   Florida sales tax through the Department of Revenue, and Miami-Dade tourist development tax through the county. Platforms cover part of this and not all of it — in this market, assume you file something and confirm exactly what.

5. 5

   Register locally and post what you must

   Before listing

   Depending on the municipality this means a business tax receipt, a resort tax registration, a local certificate, and in some places a licence number that has to appear in every advertisement. Miami Beach in particular treats an unregistered listing as the violation, whether or not anyone stayed.

6. 6

   Build for heat, storms and salt

   Ongoing

   Air conditioning is the one amenity a Miami guest will not forgive. Service it before the season, not during. Then a hurricane policy: a written cancellation and refund position for June to November, and shutters or panels you know how to fit.

What it costs

Ranges, not quotes. Fees and tax rates change, so the numbers that come from a public schedule are described rather than stated — confirm those with the offices listed further down.

Demand and seasonality

Strong year-round with winter as the clear peak — snowbirds and holidays — and repeated event surges. Beach proximity and parking drive the premiums.

Peak: November–April (winter high season), plus major events

Where to buy or list

The same neighbourhoods travellers choose between, read from the other side of the transaction.

What experienced Miami hosts know

Who to contact

The organisations that issue the thing, rather than articles about it. Links go to the organisation — search within for the current form and fee schedule.

Questions new Miami hosts ask