Vacation Rental Management
Vacation Rental Management in Edgartown, MA
Edgartown's rental year is won in July and August, and Fairly runs yours through every week of it — listings on Airbnb, Vrbo and Fairly.com, pricing tuned to the island's short summer, a caretaker close by for every turnover, and the state and town room occupancy excises collected and remitted.
4.8
Average review in Edgartown, MA
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.
Edgartown market overview
Edgartown is the Vineyard's old whaling port: white captains' houses along North Water Street, a busy harbor watched over by its lighthouse, and beaches that run from Katama's South Beach to Chappaquiddick, a few minutes across the harbor by the small Chappy ferry. Visitors come for the water, the sailing and a walkable village of shops and restaurants, and most of them arrive by ferry from the mainland, chiefly from Woods Hole in Falmouth, booking summer car space well ahead. Most boats dock at Vineyard Haven or at Oak Bluffs, about six miles up the shore by the Beach Road.
The rental year is almost entirely summer. July and August carry it — August is the fullest month and commands the year's highest nightly rates — while June and September are genuine shoulders that book at strong rates but fill far less. From October through May the island quiets and few rentals book at all. A home's year is earned in roughly twelve weeks, so pricing the peak weeks well and leaving no gaps in the calendar matters more here than anything that happens off-season. The Town of Edgartown publishes local services and town news.
What homes earn in Edgartown, MA
The chart tracks the top-performing Edgartown rentals: Airbnb and Vrbo listings with a review score of 4.8 or higher that were available or rented at least 300 days of the year. Because those homes stay open year-round, the off-season months show calendars that are available but rarely booked. Nearly all of the annual total arrives between June and September, and July and August alone produce most of it. You can customize a projection for a specific home.
| Month | Total rent | Occupancy | Avg. daily rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | $0 | 1% | $431 |
| Feb | $0 | 0% | $460 |
| Mar | $0 | 0% | $1,221 |
| Apr | $0 | 4% | $432 |
| May | $0 | 7% | $754 |
| Jun | $9,253 | 41% | $1,330 |
| Jul | $13,509 | 67% | $1,375 |
| Aug | $16,248 | 75% | $1,398 |
| Sep | $7,722 | 34% | $1,157 |
| Oct | $0 | 9% | $1,018 |
| Nov | $0 | 1% | $841 |
| Dec | $0 | 4% | $867 |
Get a custom projection for your home
Discover how much your vacation rental could earn with Fairly — No strings attached.
Looking for a home? Find a vacation rental for sale
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 Edgartown, MA
Can my Edgartown home be a short-term rental?
Yes. Short-term rentals operate across the Town of Edgartown — in the village, out in Katama, on Chappaquiddick and everywhere between — and the town taxes them through its own local room occupancy excise. Massachusetts sets the core rules that apply to every rental of 31 days or less: registration, tax collection, insurance and an in-home posting requirement.
Room occupancy taxes
Two excises apply to an Edgartown booking: the Massachusetts state room occupancy excise of 5.7% and Edgartown's local room occupancy excise of 6% — 11.7% in total. Edgartown levies no short-term-rental community impact fee, and the 2.75% Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund excise that applies across Barnstable County does not apply here. Both excises are administered by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue and reported together on one monthly return. Tax is due on everything the guest pays for the stay, cleaning and booking fees included; refundable security deposits are not taxed.
Registering your rental
Every operator registers with the Department of Revenue on MassTaxConnect and receives a Certificate of Registration for each property. The certificate must be posted inside the home, and its number is given to any manager or platform that collects rent on your behalf. A home rented for 14 days or fewer in a calendar year still registers but collects no tax, provided the exemption is claimed by January 15 of that year.
Insurance
State law requires an operator to carry at least $1 million of liability insurance for each short-term rental, unless the rental is offered through a hosting platform that maintains equal or greater coverage. The operator must also notify the insurer that writes the home's homeowners policy that the property will be used as a short-term rental, since those policies may exclude rental claims.
How Fairly handles it
Fairly collects the state and Edgartown room occupancy excises on every booking, and files and remits them on the monthly return. We assist with your MassTaxConnect registration and with keeping the Certificate of Registration posted in the home.
Operating a vacation rental in Edgartown, MA
Operating in Edgartown means compressing a year's work into one summer. Turnovers stack back-to-back through July and August, and every cleaner, linen run and repair visit competes with the rest of the island for the same limited trades, supplies and ferry space — so anything a home needs is best arranged before the season starts, not during it.
Salt air and sand are hard on decks, outdoor showers, grills and exterior paint, and the shoulder months are the window to fix what summer wore down. Nor'easters, and the occasional late-season hurricane, call for storm preparation and a check of the house before the next guests arrive. Homes that close for the winter need their water systems drained or kept heated, and a regular walkthrough while they sit empty, so a frozen pipe is found in January rather than in May.
Frequently asked questions
Fairly's management fee in Edgartown is a flat 20% commission on rental revenue — no long-term contract, no hidden fees, and nothing charged until the home books. For that, we list it on Airbnb, Vrbo and Fairly.com, set its prices, answer its guests, and collect and remit the lodging taxes. Your caretaker is paid the full cleaning fee guests pay plus a share of the commission.
Yes, with the state. Every Massachusetts short-term rental operator registers with the Department of Revenue on MassTaxConnect and receives a Certificate of Registration for the property, which must be posted inside the home. Fairly assists with the registration, then collects and remits the room occupancy excise on every booking.
Guests pay 11.7% on top of the stay: the 5.7% Massachusetts room occupancy excise plus Edgartown's 6% local excise, charged on the full rental charge including cleaning fees. Both go to the Department of Revenue on a single monthly return. Fairly collects them on every booking and files and remits the return for you.
July and August, by a wide margin — August is the fullest month and carries the year's highest nightly rates. June and September are real shoulders, booking at strong rates with lighter calendars, while October through May is quiet. Nearly a whole year's revenue arrives in about four months, so the peak weeks decide the year.
Let’s talk
Fill out some information and we’ll get in touch.
Fairly Vacation Rental Management
Serving Edgartown, MA and neighboring areas
Available 24/7