Vacation Rental Management
Vacation Rental Management in Chelan County, WA
From Leavenworth and the Wenatchee River valley to the long shoreline of Lake Chelan, Fairly runs vacation homes across Chelan County: listings on Airbnb, Vrbo and Fairly.com, pricing built around a summer lake season and a winter mountain one, and a local caretaker looking after every stay.
4.8
Average review in Chelan County, WA
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 our guests say
Chelan County market overview
Chelan County climbs from the Columbia River at Wenatchee up the Wenatchee River valley to Leavenworth, Plain and Lake Wenatchee, and north along the length of Lake Chelan to Stehekin.
Demand arrives in two seasons. Summer belongs to the lake: July is the county's busiest month, with the best homes near three-quarters booked at the year's highest nightly rates, and June and August close behind. Winter belongs to the valley: December is a second peak, as Leavenworth's holiday season and the Cascade snow bring guests back, and January out-earns both March and April. March is the quiet month everywhere.
Leavenworth has a page of its own, as do the lake towns — Chelan, Manson, and Lake Chelan for the lower basin as a whole. This page covers the rest of the county, and the rules that apply outside city limits.
What homes earn in Chelan County, WA
The chart shows the top tier of comparable entire-home vacation rentals across Chelan County on Airbnb and Vrbo — homes with a review score of 4.8 or higher that are available or rented at least 300 days a year. Read it as two seasons, not one: the July lake peak and a December valley peak, with a long, slow spring between them. Where a home sits — lake, river or mountain — decides which of the two it earns in. You can customize a projection for a specific home.
| Month | Total rent | Occupancy | Avg. daily rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | $2,693 | 29% | $399 |
| Feb | $1,550 | 25% | $342 |
| Mar | $816 | 17% | $282 |
| Apr | $1,822 | 26% | $325 |
| May | $3,084 | 34% | $364 |
| Jun | $5,313 | 54% | $464 |
| Jul | $8,441 | 72% | $550 |
| Aug | $5,748 | 51% | $509 |
| Sep | $4,103 | 42% | $409 |
| Oct | $3,230 | 34% | $360 |
| Nov | $2,410 | 30% | $366 |
| Dec | $5,436 | 47% | $474 |
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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 Chelan County, WA
City limits decide which rules apply
Chelan County has five incorporated cities: Wenatchee, Chelan, Leavenworth, Cashmere and Entiat. Each sets its own short-term rental rules inside its limits. Everywhere else is unincorporated county, governed by Chelan County, and a Leavenworth or Chelan mailing address does not mean a home is inside the city.
Chelan County's short-term rental permit
Vacation rentals can operate in unincorporated Chelan County with a short-term rental land-use permit from Chelan County Community Development. It is tiered: Tier 1 is owner-occupied, Tier 2 is a home that is not owner-occupied, where most whole-home rentals land, and Tier 3 is for higher occupancy. New Tier 2 and Tier 3 permits in residential zones are capped as a share of housing in each ZIP code and growth area. The county reviews those shares each spring and opens one summer application window, only in areas still under the cap, and it publishes remaining availability. Lot size by zone also governs eligibility. Commercially zoned land, master planned resorts and certain planned developments sit outside the cap. Inside a city's unincorporated growth area, the county applies that city's rules.
The permit renews every year in an autumn window. The Fire Marshal inspects before the first permit and every other year after, and state law requires at least one million dollars of liability insurance.
Towns at a glance
- Manson — unincorporated, with its own growth-area cap and spacing rule; see our Manson page.
- Chelan — a city licence, not the county permit; see our Chelan page.
- Leavenworth — inside the city and its growth area, rentals under a month are limited to commercial districts; see our Leavenworth page. Outside them, the rest of the 98826 ZIP code, including the Plain and Lake Wenatchee subareas, is county land, and each subarea carries its own cap.
- Peshastin — its growth area's cap is zero for new non-owner-occupied rentals in residential zones; commercial zones are exempt.
- Wenatchee, Cashmere, Entiat — cities with their own rules.
- Malaga — unincorporated, under the county permit.
- Stehekin — reached only by boat, plane, horse or foot, and outside the county's rental code until one is written for the valley.
Lodging taxes
The Washington Department of Revenue administers retail sales tax and the special hotel/motel tax on stays under thirty nights, reported on one state excise return. Unincorporated homes pay the county's hotel/motel tax; Chelan, Leavenworth and Wenatchee each levy a higher rate of their own.
Across the river: Orondo
Orondo and Desert Canyon sit on the east bank of the Columbia, in Douglas County. Chelan County's rules do not reach them. Douglas County has no short-term rental permit, and its lodging tax is a share of the sales tax rather than an added hotel/motel charge, so only state rules apply. It is a nearby alternative where the county caps are full.
How Fairly handles it
We register your home for Washington's sales and lodging taxes, collect and remit them on every booking, and assist with the county permit and each annual renewal.
Operating a vacation rental in Chelan County, WA
Operating across Chelan County means preparing for two seasons in the same year. Summer turnover on the lake is fast and back-to-back. Winter in the upper valley brings snow on driveways and mountain roads.
Outside city limits, the county's permit conditions run all year. A qualified local contact must be reachable by phone around the clock while the home is rented, and able to respond at the property within sixty minutes of a complaint. With Fairly, your caretaker lives nearby and handles every turnover and walkthrough personally, which is the kind of prompt, on-site presence that rule expects. The home also needs a working landline or VoIP phone, an exterior sign showing the permit number and the contact's phone number, and the permit number in every listing.
Frequently asked questions
A flat 20% commission on rental revenue, with no long-term contract and no hidden fees, earned only when your home books. It covers listings on Airbnb, Vrbo and Fairly.com, pricing through both the summer and winter seasons, guest messaging, and collecting and remitting Washington's lodging taxes. Your caretaker earns the cleaning fee guests pay plus a share of Fairly's commission.
It depends on city limits, not your mailing address. Inside Wenatchee, Chelan, Leavenworth, Cashmere or Entiat, the city's rules apply. Everywhere else, including Manson, Peshastin, Plain, Lake Wenatchee and Malaga, you need a tiered short-term rental permit from Chelan County Community Development, renewed every year.
Often, but it depends on where. New non-owner-occupied rentals in residential zones are capped as a share of housing in each ZIP code and growth area, and the county accepts new applications once a year, in a summer window, where the cap is open. Peshastin's growth area allows none in residential zones. Orondo, across the river in Douglas County, has no county permit.
July, when the lake is at its busiest and the best homes are near three-quarters booked at the year's highest rates. December is a second peak, carried by Leavenworth's holiday season and the Cascade snow, and January out-earns March and April. March is the slowest month across the county.
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Fairly Vacation Rental Management
Serving Chelan County, WA and neighboring areas
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