Vacation Rental Management
Vacation Rental Management in Austin, TX
Whether your Austin home is a bungalow south of the river or a hill-country house out toward Lake Travis, Fairly prices it night by night, answers every guest, and keeps it spotless between stays, with listings on Airbnb, Vrbo and Fairly.com and a local caretaker as your single point of contact.
5.0
Average review in Austin, TX
Fairly is an Airbnb Superhost, and our Austin homes average 5.0 stars across 20 guest reviews. 87% of those reviews are five stars. Better reviews attract better guests, at higher prices, maximizing your revenue.
Austin market overview
Austin pulls visitors all year for live music, the hike-and-bike trail around Lady Bird Lake, University of Texas weekends, and a steady flow of business travel into a fast-growing tech economy. West of town, Lake Travis, with Lago Vista on its north shore, and the Hill Country add a second, more leisure-driven market of lake houses and view homes; southwest toward San Antonio, Wimberley trades on spring-fed creeks and swimming holes instead. Visit Austin keeps the city's event calendar.
Demand follows the calendar of big events more than the weather. October is the strongest month of the year, when the Austin City Limits Music Festival and Formula 1's US Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas fill the city on back-to-back weekends. March is nearly as strong on South by Southwest and spring break. Spring and early fall stay busy in between, summer softens a little in the heat, and December and January are the quietest months, when occupancy dips below half before the festival season builds again.
What homes earn in Austin, TX
The chart above is built from top-performing Austin short-term rentals on Airbnb and Vrbo: homes holding a guest review score of 4.8 or higher that were available or rented at least 300 days of the year. These are full-time, well-run rentals, so the curve shows what a home here earns when it is priced to each festival weekend and kept consistently bookable. You can customize a projection for a specific home.
| Month | Total rent | Occupancy | Avg. daily rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | $2,014 | 45% | $182 |
| Feb | $2,415 | 54% | $210 |
| Mar | $3,724 | 62% | $277 |
| Apr | $3,112 | 59% | $258 |
| May | $3,080 | 58% | $256 |
| Jun | $2,658 | 57% | $234 |
| Jul | $2,872 | 60% | $220 |
| Aug | $2,595 | 55% | $203 |
| Sep | $3,007 | 58% | $246 |
| Oct | $3,931 | 61% | $290 |
| Nov | $2,932 | 56% | $238 |
| Dec | $2,206 | 48% | $196 |
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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 Austin, TX
Short-term rentals are open to non-resident owners
Austin allows short-term rentals, meaning stays of under 30 days, as an accessory use in every residential zoning district, and you do not need to live in the home or in Austin to hold the licence. Inside the city, an individual may run up to two short-term rental units on one site, and any further rentals must sit at least 1,000 feet away.
Which rules apply depends on where the home sits
Many homes with an Austin mailing address, especially toward Lake Travis, are outside the full city limits, and the city treats three areas differently:
- Full-purpose city limits: a city licence, plus the city hotel occupancy tax.
- Limited-purpose jurisdiction: a city licence, but no city hotel occupancy tax.
- Extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) and the rest of Travis County: no city licence and no city hotel occupancy tax.
Lodging taxes
The State of Texas levies a 6% hotel occupancy tax on every rental, reported to the Texas Comptroller. Inside the full-purpose city limits, the City of Austin adds 11%, made up of a 9% occupancy tax and a 2% venue project tax, for 17% in total. The city tax is reported quarterly to Austin Financial Services, and a report is due every quarter even when there were no bookings. Outside the city limits, the state's 6% applies and the City of Austin levies nothing.
Registering your rental
Inside the city, the short-term rental licence comes from the city's Development Services Department. The application names the local contact. A home in the full-purpose city limits also needs an Austin Finance Online account for the hotel occupancy tax. Licences run for two years and can be renewed starting 60 days before they expire. Every listing must show the licence number, and the city can have an unlicensed listing taken down.
The city enforces its own code, not private deed restrictions. Confirming that your subdivision or HOA allows short-term rentals is up to you before you list.
How Fairly handles it
Fairly registers your home for the hotel occupancy taxes that apply to it, then collects and remits the state and city taxes on every booking, including the quarterly city reports for empty quarters. We assist with the city licence application and its renewal every two years.
Operating a vacation rental in Austin, TX
Running a rental in Austin means planning around a handful of weekends that carry outsized weight. South by Southwest in March and the October run of the Austin City Limits festival and the Formula 1 race bring back-to-back turnovers at the year's highest rates, and a missed clean or a failed air conditioner costs the most then. Summers are long and hot, so cooling, pools and outdoor spaces need attention from May through September.
The city's licence also carries a standing condition: every licensed rental names a local contact who lives in the Austin metro (Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop or Caldwell County) and can respond within two hours. Fairly's caretaker lives nearby and handles every turnover personally, which is the kind of reachable local presence that rule asks for. You keep final say over your home, and you can change caretakers whenever you want.
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 Austin 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.
Yes. Austin licenses short-term rentals in every residential zoning district, and the owner does not have to live in the home or in the city. Inside the city, one person may run up to two rental units on a site, with any others at least 1,000 feet away. Homes outside the city's limits and limited-purpose jurisdiction need no city licence at all.
Inside the full-purpose city limits, bookings carry 17% in hotel occupancy taxes: 6% to the State of Texas and 11% to the City of Austin. Outside them, only the state's 6% applies. Fairly registers your home for the taxes that apply, then collects and remits them on every booking, including the city's quarterly reports.
October, when the Austin City Limits festival and the Formula 1 US Grand Prix land on back-to-back weekends, followed closely by March and South by Southwest. Spring and early fall stay strong between them. December and January are the quietest months, but music, university and business travel keep homes booking all year.
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Fairly Vacation Rental Management
Serving Austin, TX and neighboring areas
Available 24/7