Property Management in Haines City, FL — Airbnb & Short-Term Rentals

Short-term rental and Airbnb management in Haines City

Haines City is a Polk County city that wrote vacation homes into its zoning. It drew a short-term rental overlay zone and set standards for the projects inside it, from gate requirements to buffers between rental sections and established neighborhoods.

For owners, that makes property management in Haines City fairly predictable. A home in an approved short-term rental section can operate as a vacation rental under the city’s rules, while a home in an ordinary residential street is better suited to monthly or annual tenants. Our short-term rental management starts by confirming which applies.

Where guests come from

• Theme-park trips. Approved short-term rental sections give families on Orlando-area park trips a pool home within driving distance of the parks.
• LEGOLAND Florida. The LEGOLAND Florida Resort at 1 Legoland Way in Winter Haven, including its Peppa Pig Theme Park, is a Polk County day out for families with young children.
• Lake Eva. The city’s Lake Eva Community Park is a 28.8-acre complex at 555 Ledwith Avenue with the Lake Eva Aquatics Center, a public boat ramp, a 240-foot fishing pier and the Lake Eva Event Center.

Haines City short-term rental rules

Florida requires a DBPR Division of Hotels and Restaurants license for every vacation rental under §509.241.

Haines City’s short term rental overlay zone, adopted by Ordinance 18-1594 on March 1, 2018, marks where short-term rental uses are likely to be appropriate. It places them where land has direct access to collector and arterial roads and where established neighborhoods can be buffered. Inside the overlay, short-term rentals are established through a residential planned unit development or a conditional use permit. A mobile home park restricted to residents 55 and older cannot be converted.

The city defines a short-term rental in Section 4.2.1 as a home rented for fewer than 30 days or one calendar month, whichever is less, including timeshares, vacation rentals and holiday rentals.

For conditional-use projects in the R-1 single-family zones, Section 5.6.2 requires at least two acres and 12 dwelling units, a 15-foot buffer or a six-foot wall, security gates at every entrance to the rental sections, commercial-structure fire code standards with smoke alarms and extinguishers, and a property owners association. Sales contracts must state in bold red type that lots may be used for short-term rental.

Taxes on Haines City vacation rentals

Stays of six months or less owe Florida’s 6% sales tax under §212.03 and Polk County’s 1% discretionary sales surtax (DR-15DSS).

Polk County also charges a 5% tourist development tax, which the DOR’s DR-15TDT chart (R. 10/26) lists as county-collected. According to the Polk County Tax Collector, owners and managers file monthly, with payment due on the first of the next month and late after the 20th.

How Florida Hosts manages Haines City rentals

For Haines City homes we bring our own cleaning and maintenance staff and 24/7 guest communication, and we help with the DBPR license and the Polk County tax registration.

For an approved Haines City home, our Airbnb management covers listing, pricing, guest screening, the county and state paperwork, and turnovers. In Haines City the short-term fee is 18–25% of booking revenue, and we put it in writing.

Homes outside approved sections can earn as furnished mid-term rentals of 30 days or more, or as annual leases arranged through licensed broker partners. Request a free Haines City rental projection and it will reach you within one business day.