Vacation Rental Management
Vacation Rental Management in Falmouth, MA
From Falmouth Heights to the bike path into Woods Hole, a Falmouth home earns its year in a short, intense summer — Fairly runs it for you, with listings on Airbnb, Vrbo and Fairly.com, a caretaker who lives nearby, and every Massachusetts room occupancy tax collected and remitted.
4.8
Average review in Falmouth, 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.
What Falmouth owners say
Falmouth market overview
Falmouth sits on the southwestern corner of Cape Cod, where Buzzards Bay meets Vineyard Sound. The village center and the beachfront of Falmouth Heights are a short ride from Woods Hole, the town's harbor village and the main ferry port for Martha's Vineyard, and the Shining Sea Bikeway links them along the shore. Families book beach weeks around the Town's public beaches; others come for the ferry, the marine-science institutions of Woods Hole, and the Falmouth Road Race in August. In season, boats from Woods Hole cross Vineyard Sound to Oak Bluffs, about six miles by the Beach Road from Edgartown. Mashpee is the next town east along the shore, and Fairly's Cape Cod page compares the towns across the Cape.
The calendar is steep. July is the peak for both nightly rate and occupancy, August runs nearly as strong, and June builds quickly toward them. September holds up better than spring, giving the season a real late tail before demand drops into a quiet winter, when nightly rates fall to under a third of July's. Most of a Falmouth home's revenue is earned between late June and Labor Day, so pricing those ten weeks well decides the year.
What homes earn in Falmouth, MA
The chart reflects top-performing vacation rentals in Falmouth — homes on Airbnb and Vrbo with a review score of 4.8 or higher that were available or rented at least 300 days of the year. It shows how concentrated the market is: July and August carry the largest share of annual revenue, June and September add a shoulder on either side, and winter contributes little. Where a specific home lands depends on its distance to the water, sleeping capacity and outdoor space. You can customize a projection for a specific home.
| Month | Total rent | Occupancy | Avg. daily rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | $117 | 2% | $188 |
| Feb | $105 | 2% | $187 |
| Mar | $179 | 3% | $193 |
| Apr | $706 | 11% | $214 |
| May | $2,256 | 19% | $383 |
| Jun | $6,402 | 44% | $485 |
| Jul | $14,064 | 71% | $639 |
| Aug | $11,294 | 66% | $552 |
| Sep | $4,831 | 33% | $488 |
| Oct | $1,719 | 18% | $308 |
| Nov | $690 | 10% | $230 |
| Dec | $308 | 4% | $248 |
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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 Falmouth, MA
Short-term rentals are allowed in Falmouth
Falmouth permits short-term rentals. The Town of Falmouth governs every Falmouth home — the village, Falmouth Heights and Woods Hole alike — so one set of local rules applies wherever your property sits.
Lodging taxes
Every stay of 31 days or fewer carries Massachusetts' 5.7% state room occupancy excise, Falmouth's 6% local room occupancy excise and the 2.75% Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund excise — 14.45% in total, charged on everything the guest pays for the stay, cleaning fees included. Falmouth also levies a 3% community impact fee on professionally managed units: one of two or more short-term rentals the same operator runs in Falmouth, outside a building that includes the operator's primary residence. All of it is reported to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue on one monthly return.
Registering your rental
Every Falmouth rental must be registered with the Department of Revenue through MassTaxConnect, which issues a Certificate of Registration for the property; the certificate must be posted inside the home. Massachusetts law also requires the operator to carry at least $1 million in liability insurance for each short-term rental, unless the booking platform maintains equal or greater coverage.
Falmouth's short-term rental bylaw
Falmouth Town Meeting has adopted a short-term rental bylaw, Chapter 173 of the Town Code, that requires a Town license implemented by the Board of Health. Licenses are issued to owners for two years. An application includes the state certificate of registration, proof of ownership, trash, recycling and parking plans, smoke and carbon monoxide detector certification, a Title V certificate where applicable, and a certificate of general liability insurance of at least $1 million. Each home needs a designated operator living within 20 miles and reachable around the clock during rentals, and guests must be given the operator's contact details along with Town emergency numbers. Occupancy is capped at two guests per bedroom plus two. No owner may hold more than three licenses, and homes owned in whole or part by a corporation, a nominee trust or a real estate investment trust are ineligible, as are timeshare and fractional-ownership units. The bylaw's full text is published with the Town Meeting records.
How Fairly handles it
Fairly registers your home for the Massachusetts room occupancy excise, collects the state, Falmouth and Water Protection Fund excises — and the community impact fee where it applies — on every booking, and files and remits the monthly return. We also assist with the Town license application and the guest information it calls for.
Operating a vacation rental in Falmouth, MA
Operating in Falmouth means fitting most of the year's turnovers into about ten weeks. Summer stays run back-to-back, with same-day changeovers, sand, beach gear and linens to reset between every group. Salt air and coastal storms are hard on decks, siding, screens and HVAC, so the long off-season is when a home gets its maintenance — and an empty house still needs its heat, plumbing and storm damage checked through a Cape winter.
Falmouth's short-term rental bylaw adds standing obligations: a parking plan with a space for every bedroom, a trash and recycling plan, a current Title V certificate where the home is on septic, and a designated operator who lives within 20 miles and answers around the clock during rentals. A Fairly caretaker lives nearby and handles every turnover personally — exactly the kind of local, reachable presence that rule contemplates.
Frequently asked questions
We charge a flat 20% of the rental revenue your Falmouth home earns, with no hidden fees and no long-term contract. Because it is a commission, the fee follows your bookings rather than arriving as a monthly bill, and it covers listings on Airbnb, Vrbo and Fairly.com, pricing, guest messaging and lodging-tax remittance. Your caretaker keeps the guest cleaning fee and a share of Fairly's commission.
Under the short-term rental bylaw Falmouth Town Meeting has adopted, each home needs a two-year Town license from the Board of Health and a designated operator living within 20 miles. Every rental also needs a Massachusetts Department of Revenue certificate of registration. Fairly registers your home for the room occupancy excise and assists with the Town license.
Stays of 31 days or fewer carry the 5.7% state room occupancy excise, Falmouth's 6% local excise and the 2.75% Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund excise — 14.45% in total — plus a 3% community impact fee on professionally managed units. All of it goes to the Department of Revenue on one return, and Fairly collects and remits it on every booking.
July and August, by a wide margin. July is the peak for both nightly rate and occupancy, August runs close behind, and June and September form the shoulders. From November through March the market is quiet, so pricing the summer weeks well matters more to annual revenue than anything else on the calendar.
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Fairly Vacation Rental Management
Serving Falmouth, MA and neighboring areas
Available 24/7