Investor & compliance
Short-term-rental rules for any address, in plain English
Pull short-term-rental permit status, rules, and red flags for a property by jurisdiction. Covers 180+ jurisdictions and reads back the gist in language a buyer can actually use.
Updated June 2026 · one of 17 tools in the RealtrAI workspace
The challenge
- !Every city and county writes its short-term-rental rules differently, and they change often.
- !Buyers ask 'can I Airbnb this?' and the honest answer takes hours of reading municipal code.
- !Permit caps, owner-occupancy rules, and zoning overlays are easy to miss and expensive to get wrong.
- !A deal that pencils as a short-term rental falls apart when the city says no after closing.
What it does
- ✓Looks up short-term-rental status by jurisdiction across 180+ cities and counties.
- ✓Explains the permit or license the owner needs and who issues it.
- ✓Surfaces the rules that change the numbers: night caps, occupancy limits, owner-occupancy requirements.
- ✓Flags lodging or occupancy tax registration the owner will owe.
- ✓Writes the answer in plain English so a client can read it without a planner on the call.
- ✓Links the official source for every claim so a human can confirm before the deal closes.
Inside the tool
Every capability, included.
Why it matters
The short-term-rental upside lives or dies on the permit
An investor buys a property for the nightly income, then learns the city caps rentals at 90 nights a year or bans them outside owner-occupied homes. The numbers collapse. STR Permit Explainer puts that answer up front, before the offer, so the upside in the model matches the rules on the ground.
Allowed, restricted, or prohibited
A clear verdict for the jurisdiction, not a wall of code to interpret.
The rules that move the math
Night caps, occupancy limits, and owner-occupancy requirements that change the income projection.
Source on every claim
Each output links the ordinance or permit page so a human confirms before closing.
How it reads
Built for a client conversation, not a code review
The output is written for the person making the decision. An investor-focused agent can read it on a call and a buyer can understand it without a land-use attorney in the room. Technical specifics stay accurate, but the summary leads with the plain answer.
Plain-English summary first
The gist in one short paragraph, then the supporting detail.
Open questions called out
What still needs confirmation, so nobody mistakes a research result for a final ruling.
Property-type aware
Condo, ADU, and multi-unit rules are handled separately, not flattened into one answer.
Connected across the workspace
One source of truth.
Vacation Rental Calculator
Once a jurisdiction allows short-term rentals, run the projected nightly income and expenses to see if the deal actually pencils.
Investor List
Pull together the properties and contacts for an investor outreach push, then check permit status before you pitch a short-term-rental play.
Investor Pitch
Drop the permit verdict and conditions into a pitch so the short-term-rental upside is grounded in the real rules, not assumptions.
How it works
Adopting str permit explainer.
Enter the address
Give the property address or the city and county, plus the property type and the owner's intent.
Get the verdict and the rules
In about 4.2 seconds you get allowed, restricted, or prohibited, the permit required, and the conditions that apply.
Read the plain-English summary
A short, readable brief you can share with a buyer or paste into an investor email.
Confirm before you close
Follow the source link, check the open questions, and verify with the jurisdiction before money moves.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Is this legal advice?
No. STR Permit Explainer is a research and explanation tool. It summarizes publicly available short-term-rental rules and links the official source. Confirm with the jurisdiction and your own counsel before relying on it for a transaction.
How many places does it cover?
180+ jurisdictions across cities and counties. When a city has no specific ordinance, the tool falls back to county rules and tells you it did.
Does it handle condos and ADUs differently from single-family homes?
Yes. The tool is property-type aware, so condo association limits and accessory-dwelling-unit rules are not treated the same as a standalone house.
Will it tell me the exact permit fees and tax rates?
It identifies the permit or license required, the issuing office, and the tax registration the owner will likely owe, and flags these to confirm. Exact fees and rates change often, so verify the current numbers with the jurisdiction.
How current are the rules?
Short-term-rental ordinances change frequently. The tool surfaces what it has and always points you to the official source so you confirm the current rule before closing.
Get started
Try STR Permit Explainer free for seven days.
It is one of 17 specialist tools in your RealtrAI workspace. No credit card.