Vacation Rental Management
Vacation Rental Management in Savannah, GA
Savannah rewards a host who can keep a historic home guest-ready through back-to-back spring weekends, and Fairly manages yours end to end — a local caretaker on call, pricing tuned to the city's festival calendar, and listings on Airbnb, Vrbo and Fairly.com — while you keep final say over your home.
4.8
Average review in Savannah, GA
Fairly is an Airbnb Superhost, and our homes average 4.84 stars across 21,000+ guest reviews. 96% of our reviews are four stars or better. Better reviews attract better guests, at higher prices, maximizing your revenue.
Savannah market overview
Savannah draws travellers in every season to its oak-shaded squares, antebellum architecture and walkable Historic District, with River Street, a nationally known food scene and Tybee Island's beaches a short drive away; Hilton Head Island is about an hour's drive across the river in South Carolina. Demand peaks in spring: March and April are the strongest months of the year, with top rentals near 74% occupancy at the year's highest nightly rates, carried by the city's famous St. Patrick's celebration, garden tours and wedding season. May holds nearly as strong, summer stays steady at softer rates, and October brings a second peak as fall weather returns the squares to walking temperature. January and August are the quiet months, when occupancy dips below half. The result is a genuine year-round market with two pronounced high seasons — and a spring window that, priced well, carries an outsized share of annual revenue.
What homes earn in Savannah, GA
These figures reflect professionally hosted homes, not averages dragged down by casual listings. We look at Savannah rentals on Airbnb and Vrbo with a review score of 4.8 or higher that were available or rented at least 300 days a year — homes run the way Fairly runs them. Earnings vary with size, location and how a home shows. You can customize a projection for a specific home.
| Month | Total rent | Occupancy | Avg. daily rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | $3,348 | 45% | $240 |
| Feb | $4,536 | 60% | $270 |
| Mar | $7,570 | 74% | $330 |
| Apr | $7,074 | 73% | $323 |
| May | $6,661 | 68% | $316 |
| Jun | $5,307 | 61% | $290 |
| Jul | $5,068 | 61% | $268 |
| Aug | $3,279 | 43% | $246 |
| Sep | $5,009 | 59% | $283 |
| Oct | $5,918 | 63% | $303 |
| Nov | $4,752 | 55% | $288 |
| Dec | $4,174 | 51% | $264 |
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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 Savannah, GA
Inside the city: legal within the overlay district
Whole-home rentals of 30 days or less are a defined, lawful use under Savannah's Short-Term Vacation Rental ordinance, run as a dedicated city program. Location decides eligibility: STVRs operate within the city's STVR Overlay District, which covers the Downtown, Victorian and Streetcar local historic districts. In the residential wards of the Downtown and Victorian districts, non-owner-occupied rentals are capped at 20% of residential parcels per ward; owner-occupied homes are exempt, and the city keeps a first-come, first-served waiting list for full wards and a public map of current ward status.
Outside the city limits: unincorporated Chatham County
A Savannah mailing address does not put a home inside the City of Savannah. Wilmington Island, Skidaway Island, Georgetown and the rest of unincorporated Chatham County fall under the county's own short-term rental ordinance, and none of the city's overlay or ward rules apply there. Rentals of 30 days or less are allowed on residential land with an annual county licence from Building Safety & Regulatory Services. The county sets its own cap: new licences for homes that are not owner-occupied are limited to 5% of residential parcels in each county police response neighborhood, and a neighborhood at its cap takes no new ones until it falls below. Owner-occupied homes, condominiums and parcels over two acres sit outside the cap, and existing licences renew regardless of it. Occupancy is two guests per bedroom plus two on sewer, two per bedroom on septic, and never more than 15. Each licence names two local contacts who can reach the home within three hours of a county call; your Fairly caretaker lives nearby and can be one of them. HOA covenants still apply on top of the licence.
Lodging and occupancy taxes
Every short-term stay in Chatham County pays Georgia sales tax at 7%, the 4% state rate plus county sales taxes, administered by the Georgia Department of Revenue, and Georgia's $5-per-night hotel-motel fee, which stops once a stay reaches 31 consecutive days. The local hotel/motel tax depends on which side of the city line the home sits. Inside the city it is Savannah's 8%, remitted to the city's Revenue Department by the 20th of the following month. Outside it is Chatham County's 6%, filed monthly with the Chatham County Finance Department, also by the 20th.
Registering your rental
Both sides start with a Georgia sales tax number from the Department of Revenue. Inside the city, obtain a Business Tax Certificate from the Revenue Department, then apply for the STVR certificate through the city's online portal; Planning and Urban Design confirms zoning and issues it. The certificate is non-transferable and renews annually, and its designated agent must be reachable around the clock and able to reach the property within two hours of a city request. Its number goes in every advertisement and a copy stays posted in the unit. Outside the city, the county licence comes from Building Safety & Regulatory Services; it is non-transferable, renews annually, is posted inside the home, and its number appears in every advertisement.
How Fairly handles it
Fairly collects and remits the state sales tax, the state hotel-motel fee and the city or county hotel/motel tax on every booking, and assists with the city STVR certificate or the county licence and each annual renewal.
Operating a vacation rental in Savannah, GA
Operating in Savannah means keeping a home comfortable through a subtropical summer — air conditioning runs hard from May into September, and the humidity punishes deferred maintenance, especially in older construction — while turning the property quickly through a packed spring calendar in which the best weekends book back to back. The city's ordinance adds a genuine presence requirement: every rental designates an agent who is reachable around the clock and can be on the premises within two hours if the city calls about noise, parking or occupancy. Fairly's local caretaker is exactly the kind of nearby, reachable presence that rule contemplates — they live in the area, handle turnovers and walkthroughs personally, and serve as the single point of contact for your home. The certificate must also stay posted inside the unit, with its number published in every listing.
Frequently asked questions
A flat 20% of rental revenue, with no long-term contract and no hidden fees. Fairly earns its commission only on the bookings your Savannah home actually takes, and the rate covers pricing, guest messaging, listings on Airbnb, Vrbo and Fairly.com, and collecting and remitting the lodging taxes. The cleaning fee guests pay goes to your caretaker, who also earns a share of Fairly's commission.
Inside the city limits, yes if it sits in the STVR Overlay District — the Downtown, Victorian and Streetcar local historic districts — with a city STVR certificate. In the residential wards of the Downtown and Victorian districts, non-owner-occupied rentals are capped per ward, and full wards keep a first-come, first-served waiting list; owner-occupied homes are exempt. Outside the city limits, Chatham County's rules apply instead.
Then Chatham County, not the city, governs it — Wilmington Island, Skidaway Island and Georgetown included. Short-term rentals are allowed there with an annual county licence from Building Safety & Regulatory Services, subject to a 5% cap on non-owner-occupied licences in each neighborhood. The county's 6% hotel/motel tax replaces the city's 8%.
Georgia sales tax, which runs 7% in Chatham County; Georgia's $5-per-night state hotel-motel fee, which stops once a stay reaches 31 consecutive days; and a local hotel/motel tax — the City of Savannah's 8% inside the city limits, or Chatham County's 6% outside them. Fairly collects and remits all of them on every booking.
The certificate renews annually and is non-transferable. A designated rental agent must be reachable around the clock and able to reach the property within two hours of a city call. The certificate number goes in every advertisement, a copy stays posted inside the unit, and three code violations within twelve months revoke the certificate for a year.
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Fairly Vacation Rental Management
Serving Savannah, GA and neighboring areas
Available 24/7