Short-Term vs. Long-Term Rental in Broward County: Which Earns More in 2026?
A side-by-side breakdown of short-term vs. long-term rental income for beach-area properties in Hollywood, Hallandale Beach and Broward County — including the costs owners forget.
If you own a rental within a few miles of the beach in Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, or anywhere along the Broward coast, you’ve probably wondered the same thing every other owner does: would I make more money renting it short-term instead of on a 12-month lease?
The honest answer is it depends — but the gap is often larger than owners expect. This guide walks through how the two models actually compare, the numbers that matter, and the costs people forget on both sides.
The headline difference
A long-term lease trades maximum income for maximum predictability. You sign a tenant for a year, collect a fixed rent, and your upside is capped no matter how strong the local travel market gets.
A short-term rental trades some predictability for dramatically higher revenue potential. Near the South Florida beaches, the same home rented nightly frequently grosses 1.5–2.5× the equivalent long-term rent across a full year — because beach demand is strong, year-round, and priced per night rather than per month.
The right comparison isn’t “rent vs. nightly rate.” It’s annual net income after all costs for each model, for your specific property.
A realistic side-by-side
Consider a 3-bed single-family home a couple miles from Hollywood Beach. The numbers below are illustrative — your actual figures depend on layout, condition, furnishing and season — but they show the shape of the decision.
| Long-term lease | Short-term rental | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross annual income | $42,000 ($3,500/mo) | $78,000–$95,000 |
| Management fee | 8–10% | 20–30% (full-service) |
| Cleaning (guest-paid) | — | Mostly passed to guests |
| Utilities & internet | Tenant pays | Owner pays |
| Furnishing (one-time) | $0 | $15,000–$30,000 |
| Vacancy risk | Low | Managed via pricing |
| Typical net to owner | ~$38,000 | ~$50,000–$62,000 |
Even after a higher management fee, owner-paid utilities, and furnishing, the short-term model often clears more net — and the furnishing is a one-time cost usually recovered within the first few months.
What pushes a property toward short-term
Short-term tends to win when your property has:
- Beach proximity — within roughly 3.5 miles of the coast is the sweet spot for nightly demand.
- No HOA or condo short-term-rental ban — the single most common deal-killer.
- A layout guests want — 2–4 bedrooms, outdoor space, parking.
- Small multifamily upside — a duplex or triplex lets you run multiple income streams (and even test one unit before converting the rest).
What pushes a property toward long-term
Long-term can be the better call when:
- The property sits in an HOA or building that prohibits short stays.
- You strongly prefer fixed, predictable cash flow with minimal involvement.
- The local ordinance for that exact address is restrictive (we always check first).
The costs people forget
On the short-term side: furnishing, utilities, higher insurance, tourist/sales tax filing, and the real operational load of turnovers and guest support. Full-service management exists to absorb that load — but it’s a real cost, not zero.
On the long-term side: vacancy and turnover between tenants, eviction risk, deferred maintenance discovered only at move-out, and the opportunity cost of capped income in a strong market.
How to actually decide
Don’t guess — model it. The decision should come down to net annual income for your specific property, with current local rules and realistic occupancy baked in.
That’s exactly what we build for owners, free: a property-specific projection comparing long-term vs. short-term, net of our fee, with the local ordinance and HOA status verified up front so there are no surprises.
Get your free side-by-side ROI estimate →
Figures here are illustrative and vary by property, season and local regulation. Short-term rental rules change frequently — verify the current ordinance for your address (we do this for you) before converting.