Airbnb Properties for Sale in Florida: How to Find the Best One

Take advantage of the reviving tourism industry by finding the best Airbnb properties for sale in Florida. This guide will show you how.

Investing in Airbnb for sale in Florida may be one of the best decisions you can make, provided you’re in the right market and with the right investment strategies. Thus, a deeper knowledge and understanding of the Florida real estate market will come in handy.

Table of Contents 

1. Why Start an Airbnb in Florida
2. Airbnb Regulations in Florida
3. How to Find Airbnb Properties for Sale in Florida in 5 Steps
4. 10 Best Cities to Buy Airbnb Investment Property in Florida

Airbnb investment properties have always earned high returns. But ever since the pandemic, many investors have either sold their Airbnb rentals or switched their strategy to a traditional lease. 

Thankfully, the tourism sector is recovering really well now, with Florida leading the way. As more travelers visit the Sunshine State, Airbnbs and other short term rentals are seeing more bookings.

Whether you are a beginner real estate investor or an experienced one, 2023 is an optimistic year to expand your portfolio and invest in Airbnb homes, specifically in Florida. To help you prepare, we’re sharing everything you need to know about the Florida real estate investment market:

• Why you should start an Airbnb in Florida this coming year
• The state’s regulations on Airbnb homes and other short term rentals
• How to buy Airbnb property that will earn you high profits in the Florida housing market
• The ten best cities in Florida to buy an Airbnb investment property

If you need help finding a profitable investment out of the many Florida homes for sale, keep reading.

Why Start an Airbnb in Florida

Since Airbnb’s launch in 2008, travelers have favored vacation rentals like Airbnb houses and condos over hotels for their accessibility and homey experiences. It has led to many taking advantage of this profitable opportunity to find Airbnb investment properties. However, is it still the same in 2023 as it was before the pandemic?

Going into a post-pandemic era, the Florida Airbnb market has made a stellar comeback and is seeing record numbers of tourists, both from within the state and out. Airbnb Florida’s post-pandemic recovery is nothing short of amazing compared to other states in the US. One reason is Governor Ron DeSantis has encouraged Floridians to travel within the state.

Disney World in Orlando also continues to press forward by increasing its capacity as more and more tourists come to the state. It has led to short term rental condos and homes near the theme park getting fully booked. Airbnbs in other Florida cities are seeing a significant increase in bookings as well.

As more people got vaccinated and became more comfortable with traveling, tourist hotspots in Florida have welcomed more people in the past year. 

Using Mashvisor’s January 2023 data, we found that the Airbnb occupancy rate in the State of Florida went down to 44% in January 2023 from December’s 46%. Harmony, Lee, and Weston reported the lowest occupancy rates, with 8%, 13%, and 21%, respectively. St. Petersburg, Mulberry, and Fellsmere are getting bookings 71% to 76% of the time.

Based on 2023 data, we expect short term rentals to attract more bookings starting in springtime and reaching a peak during the summer. It makes 2023 an amazing time for investors to start looking for Airbnb properties for sale in Florida.

Florida by the Numbers

Before you go looking for Fort Lauderdale or Orlando houses for sale, you need to know what the current market conditions are for the Sunshine State. While predictions and forecasts do help investors make decisions, you should never overlook the actual numbers. 

We took a look at Mashvisor’s January 2023 data and found the following numbers for Florida:

• Median Property Price: $635,641
• Average Price per Square Foot: $411
• Days on Market: 97
• Number of Long Term Rental Listings: 83,735
• Monthly Long Term Rental Income: $3,217
• Long Term Rental Cash on Cash Return: 4.16%
• Long Term Rental Cap Rate: 4.21%
• Price to Rent Ratio: 16
• Number of Short Term Rental Listings: 79,685
• Monthly Short Term Rental Income: $2,869
• Short Term Rental Cash on Cash Return: 2.46%
• Short Term Rental Cap Rate: 2.50%
• Short Term Rental Daily Rate: $242
• Short Term Rental Occupancy Rate: 44%
• Walk Score: 49

The numbers above give you a general idea of what you can expect when you invest in Florida. However, each real estate market in Florida also has something different to offer investors. The Orlando real estate market is quite different from the Fleming Island market. 

For this reason, you should not just stop your research at the state level. Let’s say you’re interested in buying condos or homes for sale as rental properties in Orlando, you need to find out the data for Orlando investment properties. Keep in mind that Airbnb properties for sale in Orlando have a different ROI projection from other Florida real estate markets.

Airbnb Regulations in Florida

What is limiting the industry, however, is the tightening of short term rental regulations for Airbnb Florida. 

As more homeowners and investors listed their properties on platforms like Airbnb and VRBO, issues caused by rowdy guests increased tenfold. Neighbors called and emailed their local councils complaining about the noise, parking disputes, and disagreements over shared spaces with the Airbnb guests.

As a result, the state government and local governments in Florida have enforced ordinances concerning short term rentals and home-sharing. Florida law defines vacation rental as:

• Any unit or group of units in a condominium or cooperative; or,
• Any individually or collectively owned single family, two-family, three-family, or four-family house or dwelling unit; and,
• A transient public lodging establishment but not a timeshare project.

Owners of vacation rentals are required to apply for a business license and follow regulations set by their respective municipalities. Condos and dwellings adhere to different application requirements. You can find more information on the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s website.

Meanwhile, properties in which the hosts remain in the property and list the rooms as short term rentals (also known as “hosted rentals”) are not regulated by the state. But the cities and municipalities may have ordinances surrounding this type of rental.

As you search for Airbnb properties for sale in Florida, do not just decide which city or neighborhood has the highest Airbnb occupancy rate and Airbnb rental income. You must first look into the local STR regulations. If you violate the local and state ordinances, you may have to pay a large fine, shut down your listing, and be banned from hosting a rental in Florida.

How to Find Airbnb Properties for Sale in Florida in 5 Steps

Florida is home to 282 cities, 109 towns, and 20 villages, or 411 possible locations for your next investment property. But because you would want to have your short term rental set up by Spring 2023, you do not have time to visit all the locations one by one for research. So here is a step-by-step guide to finding Florida Airbnb investment properties for sale in one day:

Step 1: Select Up to Five Cities or Neighborhoods for Your Search

As mentioned above, the Sunshine State comprises 411 municipalities where you can start an Airbnb business. So you must decide on which cities—preferably no more than five—you will look into. As you’re investing in a short term rental property, you would want to buy somewhere that gets a lot of tourists. 

A big city would be ideal, too, but you must prepare to shell out a larger amount of money compared to when buying a property in a smaller town.

When you use an online real estate tool like Mashvisor’s Property Finder, you can concurrently search up to five cities. This way, you don’t need to open five separate tabs to look for and compare properties in each city.

Step 2: Narrow Down Your Search by Your Property Preferences

When you were still dreaming up your Airbnb investment, you may already have a certain property type in mind. Once you’ve decided where to find Airbnb properties for sale in Florida, you can filter your search further by your preferences, such as your:

• Budget: Set the maximum amount you are willing to spend on a property.
• Rental strategy: Check the box on whether you are planning to rent traditionally, list on short term rental platforms like Airbnb, or both.
• Property type: Decide whether you’re looking for single family homes, multifamily dwellings, condos or coops, or other types like villas.
• The number of bedrooms: Depending on your target market, you might want to focus your search on a property that they would stay in (e.g., one bedroom for couples). It is also a great filter if you plan to do a hosted rental.
• The number of bathrooms: The number of bathrooms in a property can dictate its selling price. But you may also be able to charge higher daily rates if your property has a lot of bathrooms, especially if you are only renting out rooms.

If you use Mashvisor’s Property Finder tool and filter your search based on Airbnb rental strategy and other qualities, our AI will take your preferences into account. It will then show you properties with the highest potential for Airbnb based on cash on cash returns.

Step 3: Calculate an Airbnb Property’s Potential Profitability

When you find Airbnb properties for sale in Florida that interest you, the listing price is not enough information for you to decide whether it will be a good buy. You also need to look into the following metrics:

Property Valuation Metrics

• Potential monthly Airbnb income: This is the estimated monthly income you can make if you list the property on Airbnb. This number is calculated based on the monthly incomes of comparable properties in the neighborhood.
• Estimated expenses: These include your one-time setup costs, such as home inspection, closing costs, repairs, furnishing, and appliances. You also need to factor in your monthly expenses like insurance, utilities, property management and maintenance, taxes, HOA dues, cleaning fees, and licensing.
• Estimated Airbnb cash flow: This shows how much you will have at the end of each month. Ideally, you would want the figure to be in the positive, but if you are buying a property using financing, you’re likely to have a negative cash flow for the first few years.
• Estimated Airbnb cash on cash return: This calculates your return on the cash that you invested in your Airbnb property. If you are buying an Airbnb property using financing, this metric will show how much ROI you will get on the mortgage payments you made in a year, if any.
• Estimated Airbnb cap rate: This also calculates your return, but instead of the amount you paid for your Airbnb property, it is calculated on the total purchase price or its current market value.
• Estimated 10-year payback balance: Seeing the monthly performance does not show the full picture of a property’s profitability. When you calculate the 10-year payback balance, you can estimate your accumulated profits after 10 years and when you will be in the green.

How to Calculate Airbnb Profits Using Mashvisor

If you are using Mashvisor, you can see that we’ve already made the calculations for you. You can find the estimates by clicking on any of the hundreds of Airbnb properties for sale in Florida listed on our platform. 

On the listing page, not only will you see the valuation analytics for the Airbnb property and its neighborhood, but you will also see our Airbnb profit calculator. Here, you can type in your target monthly Airbnb rental income, expenses, and mortgage. Then, our calculator will give you a more accurate projection based on your provided numbers.

Step 4: Get Pre-approved for a Mortgage

At this point, you might have found at least a couple of Airbnb properties for sale in Florida (like Miami or Orlando properties, for instance) that you would want to place an offer for. But if you can’t afford to pay in cash, getting a lender pre-approve your loan application will make your offer more appealing to the seller.

Alternatively, you can also get pre-qualified before even starting your property search. This method is perfect for investors who want to know how much they can borrow. It will help them stick to that amount when looking for a rental home. Lenders decide on it based on your financial information and credit history.

Step 5: Contact the Seller and Start Negotiating

When you have your finances in order and have decided on which of the Airbnb properties for sale in Florida you will buy, it is time to place an offer. A written offer contains the following:

• Your personal details, such as your name and current address
• The price you are willing to pay
• Deadline for the seller to respond to your offer
• An earnest money deposit, which is typically 1% to 2% of the purchase price

If you found the property on Mashvisor, you can use the platform to directly contact the property owner or real estate agent selling the house you want to buy.

Get started on your 7-day free trial with Mashvisor today on your way to a thriving real estate investing career.

10 Best Cities to Buy Airbnb Investment Property in Florida

Even with the step-by-step guide, you might still feel overwhelmed about where to start your search for Airbnb properties for sale in Florida. To help you, we gathered the latest Airbnb data to find the 10 best cities for Florida investment properties, specifically for short term rentals, based on  cash on cash returns.

To determine which locations make our list, we used the following criteria to filter Mashvisor’s January 2023 short term rental data. Each location must: 

• Have at least 100 active listings on the short term rental market
• Have a median property price of no more than $1,000,000
• Have a monthly short term rental income of at least $2,000
• Have a minimum short term cash on cash return of 2%
• Have a 50% or more short term occupancy rate

Disclaimer: As of this writing, the cities mentioned in this list allow and regulate short term rentals and hosted rentals. We encourage you to contact the appropriate local government for the latest ordinance before searching for Airbnb properties for sale in Florida.

The following locations are ranked from those with the highest to the lowest cash on cash returns:

1. Saint Augustine

• Median Property Price: $490,933
• Average Price per Square Foot: $254
• Days on Market: 89
• Number of Short Term Rental Listings: 1,286
• Monthly Short Term Rental Income: $4,473
• Short Term Rental Cash on Cash Return: 5.87%
• Short Term Rental Cap Rate: 5.94%
• Short Term Rental Daily Rate: $244
• Short Term Rental Occupancy Rate: 50%
• Walk Score: 71

2. Brandon

• Median Property Price: $401,850
• Average Price per Square Foot: $249
• Days on Market: 82
• Number of Short Term Rental Listings: 124
• Monthly Short Term Rental Income: $3,528
• Short Term Rental Cash on Cash Return: 5.52%
• Short Term Rental Cap Rate: 5.59%
• Short Term Rental Daily Rate: $168
• Short Term Rental Occupancy Rate: 56%
• Walk Score: 75

3. Inverness

• Median Property Price: $318,829
• Average Price per Square Foot: $199
• Days on Market: 77
• Number of Short Term Rental Listings: 132
• Monthly Short Term Rental Income: $2,657
• Short Term Rental Cash on Cash Return: 5.32%
• Short Term Rental Cap Rate: 5.43%
• Short Term Rental Daily Rate: $168
• Short Term Rental Occupancy Rate: 53%
• Walk Score: 30

4. Lake Placid

• Median Property Price: $404,043
• Average Price per Square Foot: $236
• Days on Market: 111
• Number of Short Term Rental Listings: 102
• Monthly Short Term Rental Income: $3,156
• Short Term Rental Cash on Cash Return: 5.28%
• Short Term Rental Cap Rate: 5.36%
• Short Term Rental Daily Rate: $182
• Short Term Rental Occupancy Rate: 47%
• Walk Score: 61

5. Winter Haven

• Median Property Price: $343,512
• Average Price per Square Foot: $190
• Days on Market: 92
• Number of Short Term Rental Listings: 120
• Monthly Short Term Rental Income: $2,840
• Short Term Rental Cash on Cash Return: 5.23%
• Short Term Rental Cap Rate: 5.32%
• Short Term Rental Daily Rate: $141
• Short Term Rental Occupancy Rate: 62%
• Walk Score: 74

6. Weeki Wachee

• Median Property Price: $453,821
• Average Price per Square Foot: $234
• Days on Market: 79
• Number of Short Term Rental Listings: 227
• Monthly Short Term Rental Income: $3,409
• Short Term Rental Cash on Cash Return: 4.95%
• Short Term Rental Cap Rate: 5.01%
• Short Term Rental Daily Rate: $172
• Short Term Rental Occupancy Rate: 53%
• Walk Score: 33

7. Palm Bay

• Median Property Price: $341,244
• Average Price per Square Foot: $213
• Days on Market: 75
• Number of Short Term Rental Listings: 136
• Monthly Short Term Rental Income: $2,789
• Short Term Rental Cash on Cash Return: 4.92%
• Short Term Rental Cap Rate: 5.00%
• Short Term Rental Daily Rate: $144
• Short Term Rental Occupancy Rate: 50%
• Walk Score: 45

8. Eustis

• Median Property Price: $424,597
• Average Price per Square Foot: $216
• Days on Market: 110
• Number of Short Term Rental Listings: 222
• Monthly Short Term Rental Income: $3,062
• Short Term Rental Cash on Cash Return: 4.86%
• Short Term Rental Cap Rate: 4.94%
• Short Term Rental Daily Rate: $158
• Short Term Rental Occupancy Rate: 50%
• Walk Score: 74

9. Lakeland

• Median Property Price: $380,000
• Average Price per Square Foot: $214
• Days on Market: 81
• Number of Short Term Rental Listings: 195
• Monthly Short Term Rental Income: $2,920
• Short Term Rental Cash on Cash Return: 4.49%
• Short Term Rental Cap Rate: 4.57%
• Short Term Rental Daily Rate: $134
• Short Term Rental Occupancy Rate: 54%
• Walk Score: 38

10. Ocoee

• Median Property Price: $419,242
• Average Price per Square Foot: $230
• Days on Market: 104
• Number of Short Term Rental Listings: 122
• Monthly Short Term Rental Income: $3,341
• Short Term Rental Cash on Cash Return: 4.46%
• Short Term Rental Cap Rate: 4.52%
• Short Term Rental Daily Rate: $149
• Short Term Rental Occupancy Rate: 52%
• Walk Score: 56

Look for and analyze the most profitable short term rental properties in Florida and in areas near you with Mashvisor today.

What About Destin, Kissimmee, and Orlando?

While you are looking for homes for sale in Florida that you would want to turn into an Airbnb, you might be thinking that the three cities would be great for investment. The main reason why they didn’t make the list above is of their lower cash on cash returns compared to the others on the list.

Let’s take a quick look at what Destin, Kissimmee, and Orlando can offer vacation rental property investors at the moment. 

Numbers for Airbnb Homes in the Destin Real Estate Market

• Median Property Price: $836,004
• Average Price per Square Foot: $512
• Days on Market: 83
• Number of Short Term Rental Listings: 729
• Monthly Short Term Rental Income: $3,035
• Short Term Rental Cash on Cash Return: 1.60%
• Short Term Rental Cap Rate: 1.62%
• Short Term Rental Daily Rate: $371
• Short Term Rental Occupancy Rate: 35%
• Walk Score: 52

Airbnb Tampa is not that lucrative, either. The estimated monthly Airbnb income is $2,306, cash on cash return at 1.99%, and occupancy rate at 47%.

Numbers for Airbnb Homes in the Kissimmee Real Estate Market

• Median Property Price: $423,170
• Average Price per Square Foot: $237
• Days on Market: 91
• Number of Short Term Rental Listings: 598
• Monthly Short Term Rental Income: $2,418
• Short Term Rental Cash on Cash Return: 2.76%
• Short Term Rental Cap Rate: 2.80%
• Short Term Rental Daily Rate: $124
• Short Term Rental Occupancy Rate: 56%
• Walk Score: 65

As for Kissimmee, the estimated monthly rental income from Airbnb homes is $2,418 and a cash on cash return of 2.76%. Airbnb Kissimmee’s current occupancy rate is a healthy 56%. 

While the above numbers are not bad, they’re not enough to put Kissimmee on our top ten list of locations for Airbnb rentals in Florida.

Numbers for Airbnb Homes in the Orlando Real Estate Market

• Median Property Price: $474,803
• Average Price per Square Foot: $326
• Days on Market: 100
• Number of Short Term Rental Listings: 1,575
• Monthly Short Term Rental Income: $2,605
• Short Term Rental Cash on Cash Return: 2.37%
• Short Term Rental Cap Rate: 2.41%
• Short Term Rental Daily Rate: $143
• Short Term Rental Occupancy Rate: 48%
• Walk Score: 41

Orlando may be one of the largest vacation rental markets in the US, thanks to Disney World, but the market looks to be overly saturated with over 1,500 short term rental listings. If you invest in an Airbnb Orlando today, your estimated monthly rental would be $2,605, a cash on cash return of 2.37%, and an occupancy rate of 48%.

Make Your Property Search More Efficient With Mashvisor

It is widely known by now that tourism in Florida is recovering pretty well, as we go into the post-pandemic era. But what is not seen by industry outsiders is that the Florida real estate market, in general, is also looking good. 

Investors searching for a bargain house that they can turn into an Airbnb may still find some that are priced below $100,000 as long as they stay away from the bigger cities.

When you start looking for Airbnb properties for sale in Florida, however, you need to consider the municipal regulations on short term rentals. Because even if you find an amazing property, if it is located in a zone or city that does not allow vacation rentals, you won’t be able to make money from it.

Finally, you are better off using an online tool that specializes in helping real estate investors find an investment property. Mashvisor is one of them. Using our platform, you can search up to five cities all at once, without needing to open so many tabs on your browser. You will also be able to filter your search according to your preferences, such as listing price, property type, and more.

We also provide an Airbnb profit calculator that can help you estimate how much you can earn on a particular property that is listed on our website. And when you decide to purchase a house, you can use our platform to contact the seller. 

Learn more about how Mashvisor can help you find the best deals in the most profitable markets by scheduling a demo now.