Property Management in Delray Beach, FL — Airbnb & Short-Term Rentals

Short-term rental and Airbnb management in Delray Beach

Delray Beach is a beach town with a real downtown. Atlantic Avenue runs from the Intracoastal to the ocean, and the streets on either side mix historic cottages, newer townhouses and small condo buildings. Farther west, the city turns into single-family subdivisions and planned communities.

Property management in Delray Beach is shaped by zoning. In the single-family and planned residential districts, the city caps how often a home can turn over, which rules out a typical weekend-to-weekend Airbnb calendar there. Our Airbnb management in Delray starts with the zoning map, then the association documents, then the listing.

Where guests come from

Atlantic Avenue is the center of it all, with restaurants, galleries and nightlife within walking distance of the public beach. Old School Square and the Pineapple Grove arts district sit at the downtown end, and the Delray Beach Stadium & Tennis Center downtown hosts the Delray Beach Open, an ATP tennis tournament.

The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, west of town, draws visitors year round. Delray Medical Center brings patients’ families who need longer stays. Guests usually fly into Palm Beach International or Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, and the Delray Beach Tri-Rail station connects to both.

Delray Beach short-term rental rules

The key rule is §4.3.3(ZZZ) of the Land Development Regulations. In a Single Family or Planned Residential Development zoning district, a dwelling unit that turns over occupancy more than six times in any one year is presumed to be a transient residential use, and that use is prohibited. The section was first added in 2009, before the June 1, 2011 cutoff in §509.032(7)(b), and was amended by Ordinance 21-26 in April 2026.

Owners and their family are exempt from the limit no matter how much time they spend at the home, and an owner can ask the Development Services Department for a waiver on grounds of undue economic hardship by submitting purchase, tax, mortgage and income records. The Medium Density Residential (RM) district lists transient residential use as a permitted use, subject to the same section.

Separately, Chapter 117 of the City Code requires a landlord permit for every rented residential unit, whatever the length of stay. The fee is $75 per unit per year, with permits running from November 1. To approve a permit the city checks housing code compliance, zoning, a limit of three unrelated persons per unit, and, at renewal, proof of state sales tax payment for leases under six months. Leased units are limited to four vehicles.

The state DBPR license under §509.241 applies to units rented more than three times a year for under 30 days, and the Palm Beach County Tax Collector requires a tourist development tax account and a short-term rental business tax receipt.

Taxes on Delray Beach vacation rentals

Stays of six months or less are subject to Florida’s 6% sales tax (§212.03), Palm Beach County’s 0.5% discretionary sales surtax for 2026 (DR-15DSS) and Palm Beach County’s 6% tourist development tax (DR-15TDT). The county Tax Collector says booking platforms do not remit the tourist tax to it, so the host files it monthly.

How Florida Hosts manages Delray Beach rentals

Florida Hosts helps Delray Beach owners with the city landlord permit, the county tax account and receipt, and the DBPR license where one is needed. In Delray Beach we check zoning first, keep the landlord permit and county tax filings in order, track turnovers where the six-per-year cap applies, and run guest communication around the clock with our own cleaning and maintenance staff.

Where zoning allows nightly stays, short-term rental management and Airbnb management run 18–25% of booking revenue, with the figure given to you in writing. Where the turnover cap makes nightly stays impractical, seasonal and mid-term furnished rentals of 30 days or more, or annual leases handled by licensed brokers, can be the better fit. We can turn around a free rental projection for a Delray Beach home within one business day.