Vacation Rental Management
Vacation Rental Management in Virginia Beach, VA
From Sandbridge beach houses to oceanfront cottages, Fairly manages your Virginia Beach vacation rental end to end — professional listings on Airbnb, Vrbo and Fairly.com, dynamic pricing, guest screening and messaging, and a local caretaker who handles every clean and turnover personally.
4.9
Average review in Virginia Beach, VA
Fairly is the highest-rated vacation rental manager in Virginia Beach — an Airbnb Superhost averaging 4.91 stars across 67 guest reviews, ahead of all 14 other managers tracked there. 87% of those reviews are five stars. Better reviews attract better guests, at higher prices, maximizing your revenue.
Virginia Beach market overview
Virginia Beach pairs a busy resort boardwalk with something rarer: Sandbridge, five miles of low-rise residential shoreline in the city's southeastern corner, backed by Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, where whole-house beach rentals — many oceanfront or on the bay, often with pools — are the dominant lodging. Demand is emphatically seasonal. Summer is the engine: July fills 84% of nights at the year's highest rates, and June through August out-earns the other nine months combined as families book beach weeks far in advance. Spring builds steadily, with occupancy climbing from 47% in March to 53% by May, and September holds warm water and strong weekends after the crowds thin. Winter is genuinely quiet — occupancy sits below 30% in the deepest months — which is when well-run homes schedule maintenance and refresh projects for the season ahead.
What homes earn in Virginia Beach, VA
These figures come from top-performing vacation rentals in Virginia Beach — homes listed on Airbnb and Vrbo with a review score of at least 4.8 that were available or rented at least 300 days in the past year. Revenue here concentrates hard in summer: a well-run home earns more from June through August than in the rest of the year combined, so pricing and calendar management around the peak decide the year. You can customize a projection for a specific home.
| Month | Total rent | Occupancy | Avg. daily rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | $770 | 27% | $169 |
| Feb | $1,224 | 32% | $185 |
| Mar | $3,208 | 47% | $247 |
| Apr | $3,518 | 50% | $254 |
| May | $4,445 | 54% | $326 |
| Jun | $6,975 | 72% | $416 |
| Jul | $8,707 | 84% | $443 |
| Aug | $7,308 | 74% | $401 |
| Sep | $3,508 | 49% | $297 |
| Oct | $2,297 | 39% | $234 |
| Nov | $1,661 | 33% | $234 |
| Dec | $1,381 | 30% | $203 |
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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.
Vacation Rental Taxes and Regulations in Virginia Beach, VA
Short-term rentals are legal in Virginia Beach — zoning decides where
A short-term rental in Virginia Beach is an entire home rented for under 30 days, and Sandbridge is the most straightforward place in the city to run one: every property in the Sandbridge Special Service District is eligible, needing only the city's short-term rental zoning permit. Elsewhere, new rentals are limited to the Oceanfront Resort short-term rental overlay, where a conditional use permit must be approved before the zoning permit and renewed every five years, and to properties that hold grandfathered status from earlier registration. Home sharing by an owner who lives in the home needs no zoning permit.
The permit and what it requires
The zoning permit comes from the Planning Department's Zoning Administration office, costs $500, covers one address, and renews annually. Holding it requires a current registration receipt from the Commissioner of the Revenue, a sworn statement of operation and ownership, proof of $1 million in liability insurance covering the rental activity, a parking plan showing one off-street space per bedroom, a life-safety inspection report renewed every five years, and a structural inspection report on a three-year cycle.
Lodging and sales taxes
The Commissioner of the Revenue administers the city's transient occupancy tax: 9% of gross rental plus $2 per rented night citywide, and 10.5% plus $2 per night in the Sandbridge Special Service District. The taxable base includes cleaning and other guest fees, returns are due monthly by the 20th, and a zero return is required for months with no rentals. Virginia's 6% retail sales and use tax also applies to short-term lodging and is remitted to Virginia Tax, bringing the combined rate on a Sandbridge rental to 16.5% plus $2 per night.
How Fairly handles it
Fairly collects the city occupancy tax and the state sales tax on every booking and remits both, including the monthly city returns. We also assist with the zoning permit application, its annual renewal, and the inspection reports it requires.
Operating a vacation rental in Virginia Beach, VA
Virginia Beach rentals are large homes doing heavy summer work. Sandbridge houses run to many bedrooms, often with private pools, and peak-season bookings arrive week to week — so turnover days compress deep cleans, linen volume and pool service into a few hours between guests. Salt air and blowing sand wear finishes, decks and HVAC faster than inland owners expect, which makes the quiet winter months the right time for preventive maintenance. Atlantic hurricane season calls for a standing plan to secure outdoor furniture and keep guests informed when a storm approaches. The city's short-term rental permit is an operating obligation, not a one-time filing: it renews every year, and holding it means maintaining one off-street parking space per bedroom, $1 million in liability insurance covering the rental, and periodic life-safety and structural inspection reports.
Frequently asked questions
Are short-term rentals allowed in Virginia Beach?
Yes — where depends on zoning. Every property in the Sandbridge Special Service District is eligible with the city's annual short-term rental zoning permit. Elsewhere, new rentals need a conditional use permit in the Oceanfront Resort overlay district, and properties outside those areas operate only with grandfathered status. Home sharing by a resident owner needs no zoning permit.
What taxes apply to a Virginia Beach vacation rental?
Three layers: the city transient occupancy tax — 9% of gross rental citywide, 10.5% in Sandbridge — a flat $2 per rented night, and Virginia's 6% sales tax on lodging. On a Sandbridge home that totals 16.5% plus $2 per night. Fairly collects these on every booking and remits them to the city and the state.
What does it take to keep a short-term rental permit?
The $500 zoning permit renews every year, and renewal means keeping its conditions current: registration with the Commissioner of the Revenue, $1 million in liability insurance, one off-street parking space per bedroom, and periodic life-safety and structural inspection reports. Fairly assists with the application, the annual renewal and the inspection paperwork.
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.
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