Vacation Rental Management
Vacation Rental Management in The Villages, FL
In The Villages, Fairly manages your home with a caretaker who lives nearby, listings on Airbnb, Vrbo and Fairly.com, and pricing that leans into the winter months when snowbirds, prospective buyers and visiting families fill this 55-and-over community.
4.8
Average review in The Villages, FL
Fairly is an Airbnb Superhost, and our homes average 4.84 stars across 21,000+ guest reviews. 87% of those reviews are five stars. Better reviews attract better guests, at higher prices, maximizing your revenue.
The Villages market overview
The Villages is a 55-and-over community spread across Sumter, Lake and Marion counties in Central Florida, and its rental demand follows the people drawn to living here. Winter brings snowbirds escaping northern cold, prospective buyers trying the lifestyle before they commit, and families visiting parents and grandparents who already live here. Days fill with golf on dozens of courses, golf-cart trips between neighbourhoods, and evening music on the town squares at Spanish Springs, Lake Sumter Landing and Brownwood.
That makes the calendar sharply seasonal. Among top-performing homes, February and March run above 90% occupancy at nightly rates near $180, and January sits in the mid-70s. From May through September occupancy falls to around a third and rates soften, so most of the year's revenue is earned between January and April. Many winter guests book a month or more at a time, which suits the neighbourhoods whose deed restrictions set a one-month minimum lease.
What homes earn in The Villages, FL
The chart follows the top tier of vacation rentals in The Villages on Airbnb and Vrbo: homes with a review score of 4.8 or higher that were available or booked at least 300 days of the year. It shows what a well-run home earns month by month, which here means a strong January-to-April season and a long, quieter summer. Your own home's result depends on its size, its location and the deed restrictions that apply to it. You can customize a projection for a specific home.
| Month | Total rent | Occupancy | Avg. daily rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | $3,906 | 76% | $178 |
| Feb | $4,013 | 94% | $183 |
| Mar | $4,304 | 91% | $184 |
| Apr | $3,087 | 62% | $178 |
| May | $1,504 | 37% | $156 |
| Jun | $925 | 31% | $157 |
| Jul | $1,344 | 35% | $157 |
| Aug | $747 | 29% | $147 |
| Sep | $559 | 30% | $147 |
| Oct | $1,549 | 36% | $156 |
| Nov | $2,170 | 47% | $166 |
| Dec | $2,291 | 46% | $172 |
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This is based on properties listed on Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com with an average review score of 4.8 out of 5 or higher, limited to homes available or rented at least 300 days a year. Earnings vary based on the unique amenities and qualities of each home.
A guaranteed $5,000 increase in earnings
We guarantee that homeowners coming from self management or other managers will make an extra $5,000 in their first year with Fairly.
Vacation Rental Taxes and Regulations in The Villages, FL
Can I rent my home in The Villages?
Florida law bars local governments from prohibiting vacation rentals or limiting how long or how often they are rented. In The Villages, the rules that decide what your home can do are private ones: the Declaration of Restrictions recorded for your neighbourhood, or unit.
Most older declarations set no minimum rental term, so stays of a few nights are allowed there. Several declarations recorded for the newest neighbourhoods, in Districts 15 and 16 inside the City of Wildwood, limit leasing to written residential leases of at least one month that carry the Developer's required clause, and some units bar renting without the Developer's written consent. Your unit number is on your Villages ID card; look up its declaration on the District's Community Standards page.
The declarations make the community 55-and-over: each occupied home must have at least one occupant aged 55 or older, and anyone under 19 may stay no more than 30 days in total in a calendar year.
Lodging taxes
Florida taxes every stay of six months or less, so a month-long winter booking is taxed like a weekend. The rate depends on the county your home sits in.
- Sumter County, which covers most of The Villages including its Wildwood neighbourhoods: 7%, the 6% state sales tax plus Sumter's 1% surtax, both reported to the Florida Department of Revenue. Sumter levies no tourist development tax at present; if the county adopts one, it is added to every booking.
- Lake County, the neighbourhoods around Lady Lake: state sales tax and the county surtax to the Department of Revenue, plus a 4% tourist development tax paid to the Lake County Tax Collector.
- Marion County, the neighbourhoods north of County Road 42: the same state and county sales taxes, plus a 4% tourist development tax paid to the Marion County Tax Collector.
Registering your rental
A home rented to guests more than three times a year for stays under 30 days needs a vacation rental licence from the Florida Division of Hotels and Restaurants, renewed each year.
How Fairly handles it
We register your home for Florida sales tax and, in Lake or Marion County, the county tourist development tax, then collect and remit them on every booking. We assist with the state vacation rental licence and its renewal.
Operating a vacation rental in The Villages, FL
Running a rental here means working within The Villages' own occupancy rules as much as the market's. Every occupied home must have at least one occupant aged 55 or older, and guests under 19 may stay no more than 30 days in total per calendar year, so every booking needs the ages of the guest party, and a long winter stay with grandchildren along has to fit that limit.
The climate sets the rest. Summer heat and afternoon storms work air conditioning, pools and screened lanais hard, and hurricane season runs from June through November, so a home sitting quiet through the slow months still needs regular walkthroughs. Many rentals include a golf cart, which needs charging and checking between stays. Turnovers bunch up in February and March, when back-to-back arrivals leave little slack.
Frequently asked questions
Fairly charges a flat 20% commission on the rental revenue your home in The Villages earns, with no long-term contract and no hidden fees, so we are paid only when it books. That covers listings on Airbnb, Vrbo and Fairly.com, pricing for the winter peak and the summer lull, guest messaging, and collecting and remitting Florida sales tax and any county tourist development tax.
That depends on your neighbourhood's Declaration of Restrictions, not on the county. Most older declarations set no minimum term. Several recorded for the newest neighbourhoods, in Districts 15 and 16 in the City of Wildwood, require written leases of at least one month, and some units need the Developer's consent to rent. Your unit number is on your Villages ID card.
For short visits. The Villages is a 55-and-over community: every occupied home must have at least one occupant aged 55 or older, and guests under 19 may stay no more than 30 days in total per calendar year. A booking led by a guest aged 55 or older, with grandchildren along for a week, fits; a party with no one over 55 does not.
It depends on the county. In Sumter County, where most of The Villages sits, it is 7%: the 6% state sales tax and Sumter's 1% surtax. Homes in the Lake and Marion County neighbourhoods also owe a 4% county tourist development tax to their county Tax Collector. Stays of six months or less are taxed, monthly snowbird bookings included.
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Fairly Vacation Rental Management
Serving The Villages, FL and neighboring areas
Available 24/7