Vacation Rental Management
Vacation Rental Management in Sun Valley, ID
Powder mornings on Bald Mountain in winter, admission-free concerts and long trail days in July — Fairly runs a Sun Valley home through both seasons, with a caretaker who lives nearby, listings on Airbnb, Vrbo and Fairly.com, and the state and city lodging taxes collected and remitted on every booking.
4.9
Average review in Sun Valley, ID
Fairly is an Airbnb Superhost, and our Sun Valley homes average 4.91 stars across 43 guest reviews — better guest reviews than First Chair Destinations and Alpine Lodging Sun Valley. 96% of our reviews are four stars or better. Better reviews attract better guests, at higher prices, maximizing your revenue.
Sun Valley market overview
Sun Valley sits just east of Ketchum in Idaho's Wood River Valley, at the foot of the two ski mountains run by Sun Valley Resort: Bald Mountain and Dollar Mountain. Commercial flights land at Friedman Memorial Airport down the valley, and visitors come in two distinct waves. Summer is the bigger one — July is the strongest month of the year, with the fullest calendars and the highest earnings, as golf, mountain biking and hiking in the surrounding national forest fill the valley, and the Sun Valley Music Festival adds weeks of admission-free summer concerts. August stays strong. Winter is the second season: February is the busiest winter month, and December carries the highest nightly rates of the year through the holidays. Between the two, the calendar nearly empties — April and May after the lifts close, and November before they open — while September and October hold a quieter fall shoulder.
What homes earn in Sun Valley, ID
The chart draws on top-performing vacation rentals in Sun Valley — homes on Airbnb and Vrbo with a review score of 4.8 or higher that were available or rented at least 300 days over the year. It shows a market with two peaks: July leads the year, February leads the winter, and spring and November bring little in between. Where a specific home lands depends on its size, its distance from the lifts and amenities like a hot tub. You can customize a projection for a specific home.
| Month | Total rent | Occupancy | Avg. daily rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | $5,639 | 34% | $535 |
| Feb | $8,840 | 55% | $574 |
| Mar | $6,105 | 36% | $547 |
| Apr | $742 | 8% | $309 |
| May | $973 | 10% | $314 |
| Jun | $5,560 | 41% | $452 |
| Jul | $12,150 | 71% | $552 |
| Aug | $9,002 | 55% | $528 |
| Sep | $5,073 | 37% | $457 |
| Oct | $2,709 | 23% | $380 |
| Nov | $857 | 8% | $357 |
| Dec | $4,433 | 26% | $550 |
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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 Sun Valley, ID
Short-term rentals are allowed in Sun Valley
Your home can operate as a short-term rental in Sun Valley. Idaho law bars every city and county from enforcing any ordinance that would prohibit short-term rentals, and from requiring a license, fee, permit, certification or registration to operate one; a short-term rental is treated as a non-transient residential use for zoning purposes. What a city may still require is a short list of life-safety measures: smoke alarms in every sleeping area, a working fire extinguisher and carbon monoxide detector on each floor, removable escape ladders in upper-floor sleeping areas with a window, occupancy within the building code's residential limits, and a guest handout showing the exits, extinguishers, any first aid kit and an emergency phone number. The city's ordinary noise, parking and nuisance rules apply to a rental exactly as they do to any other home.
Lodging taxes
Every stay of 30 days or less in Idaho carries the state's 6% sales tax and its 2% travel and convention tax, both administered by the Idaho State Tax Commission. Inside city limits, the City of Sun Valley adds its own local option tax on occupancy sales — rentals lasting less than 30 days — currently 4%. It is a local sales tax separate from the state's, and it is paid to the city rather than to the Tax Commission.
Registering and remitting
On the state side, short-term lodging calls for a travel and convention tax permit and a seller's permit, both issued through Idaho Business Registration. The city then issues its own local option tax permit for the rental, identified by the property's physical address. The permit does not transfer with a sale, so a new owner applies afresh. City returns follow the same monthly, quarterly or annual schedule as the state returns, and are due to the City Clerk's office by the 20th of the following month.
How Fairly handles it
Fairly registers your home for the Sun Valley local option tax, and collects and remits it together with Idaho's sales tax and travel and convention tax on every booking, whichever channel it comes through — so each stay is charged the correct rate and every return behind it is filed and paid on time.
Operating a vacation rental in Sun Valley, ID
Sun Valley runs on two short, intense seasons with near-empty months between them. Winter means real mountain snow: driveways, walks and decks have to be clear before guests arrive with skis and boots to stow, a hot tub needs tending between every stay, and a home sitting empty between winter bookings still needs its heat and pipes watched. The holiday weeks bring the year's highest nightly rates, and guests paying them expect a home that is spotless and fully stocked on arrival. July compresses most of the summer's turnovers into a few weeks of back-to-back changeovers. The dead months — April and May after the lifts close, and November before they open — are the maintenance window, when furnaces get serviced, decks refinished and the home readied for the season that pays for it.
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 Sun Valley 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.
Not to operate it. Idaho law bars cities and counties from requiring a license, permit or registration to run a short-term rental. What remains is tax registration: Idaho's travel and convention and seller's permits, and the City of Sun Valley's local option tax permit. Fairly registers your home for the city tax and collects and remits all three taxes on every booking.
Every stay of 30 days or less carries Idaho's 6% sales tax and 2% travel and convention tax. Inside city limits, the City of Sun Valley adds its local option tax on occupancy, currently 4%, paid to the city rather than the state. Fairly collects and remits all of it on every booking.
July, by a clear margin — it brings the fullest calendars and the highest earnings of the year. Winter is the second season: February is the busiest winter month and the December holidays carry the top nightly rates. April, May and November are close to empty, which makes them the time for maintenance.
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Fairly Vacation Rental Management
Serving Sun Valley, ID and neighboring areas
Available 24/7