Expanding Into Sin City: Las Vegas Airbnb Laws & Regulations
Las Vegas is undoubtedly one of the most popular tourist destinations worldwide. In 2023, approximately 41 million tourists visited the city. The city offers attractions to many types of tourists. Whether they are gambling, partying, attending conventions, shopping, or watching world-famous shows, the tourists need a place to stay throughout their stay. To satisfy this need, Las Vegas features an array of hotels with 154,662 available lodging rooms by 2023. Hotels, however, often need to meet the needs of tourists. For example, a large family may have to rent multiple rooms at an unnecessarily exorbitant rate to accommodate all of their members. Another case would be when someone would like access to kitchen or laundry facilities without having to pay for those services at a hotel. In these cases, these guests may often consider using a short term rental property rather than a typical resort hotel. Greater Las Vegas short term rentals can be the perfect middle ground for these guests that wish for additional amenities that an Airbnb can provide while still being close to the attractions the city has to offer.
These demands are perhaps the reason why the Airbnb business in Las Vegas is growing. Despite this growth, the news headlines involving Las Vegas Airbnbs can often be intimidating. News media frequently focuses on the high fines that Airbnb hosts have to pay or the lawsuits between short term rental hosts and local governments.
This blog will provide a detailed guide for property owners who are interested in the short term rental business with the short term rental laws that are important to know. Furthermore, there will be instructions on how to apply for and receive a short term rental license, which is essential to operate an Airbnb in Las Vegas.
Airbnb Market in Las Vegas
History
After the Covid-19 pandemic, the Las Vegas housing market skyrocketed, recording a median price increase of 50%. Today, the market has stabilized but Las Vegas remains one of the top five most expensive cities in the country for property rental prices. More than 70,000 people migrate to Southern Nevada every year and the demand for affordable housing remains strong in Las Vegas, Summerlin, and Henderson. While at an initial glance, this change may seem only relevant to potential and current residents of Las Vegas. However, this lingering increase in housing prices has led to a paralleled increase in rent prices, which justifies Las Vegas property owners to take advantage of these high rent prices to put their rental prices at a rate that rivals the most expensive cities in the nation.
Is Las Vegas a Good Place to Invest in an Airbnb?
The statistics for Airbnb show that the short term rental market is promising. Based on approximately 6000 short-term residential rentals across three short term rental platforms in Las Vegas, the annual revenue for an Airbnb is $34,617. The occupancy rate for high-traffic areas such as West, North Las Vegas City, or The Strip is 78%. Some people are even considering Airbnb rental arbitrage. These trends all point to the fact that short term rentals are a promising way to consistently generate income in the desert.
Getting your Las Vegas Airbnb off the ground
Licensure
To operate a short-term rental in Las Vegas, the host must submit a state business license application and undergo the short-term rental permit approval process to make sure that the property is in legal compliance. To start with the process, short term rental owners need to visit the City of Las Vegas website and make sure that all of the requirements listed are met. Below are the short term rental application instructions entailing a checklist of all essential short term rental ordinances and relevant Las Vegas municipal codes approved by the Las Vegas City Council that establish strict guidelines for short term rental operators to follow.
Also, Clark County adopted the assembly bill Ordinance 3127 in June 2022 where the applicant must possess a conditional use permit before applying for a business license. This conditional use verification is now mandatory.
What Counts as a Short Term Rental?
According to the Las Vegas Department of Community Development, a short-term residential rental is a unit such as a house or condominium that is rented out to guests for less than 31 days in a row. Short term rental regulations require the host to stay within the premises throughout the guests’ entire stay and also limit the number of bedrooms in the property to three, which would include the short term rental host’s bedroom.
Insurance
The host must provide proof of liability insurance coverage of at least $500,000.
Zoning Rules and Restrictions
There are two primary minimum distance requirements to know. Most residential neighborhoods allow for short term rentals to operate as long as they maintain a minimum distance of 660 feet away from another short term rental. The rentals also cannot be within 2500 feet of a resort hotel.
If the short term rental property is within a subdivision that is governed by an owner’s association, the host must also acquire a letter from the HOA that acknowledges and approves the unit being used as a rental.
Safety
The host must also schedule an inspection with Code Enforcement. An officer will visit the property and make sure that it is safe for occupancy and verify the building’s compliance with building and zoning codes. Additional changes and additions that were made to the original structure must also be submitted to the officer for further review.
State and local taxes for Airbnb Hosts
State of Nevada’s AB363 categorizes short term rentals as transient lodging, which subjects them to the same transient lodging taxes as the hotels.
The short term rental taxes can range from 10% to 14% depending on the specific location and one can visit the Clark County assessor website for specific inquiries.
Additional Rules
Here are some additional rules that are useful to know that the host should incorporate into the house rules that the guests should follow during their stay. The host can also consult with any short term rental associations they may be a part of to develop strategies to make sure that these regulations are followed by the guests.
Violation of these rules can lead to dire consequences. There is a 24-hour hotline that exclusively handles complaints regarding disruptive activities related to short term rental properties and their residents.
Noise
Excessive noise is forbidden and any noise such as outside music that can be heard from 50 feet from the property line can be reported and fined. Make sure to install noise monitoring equipment to help the guests maintain the noise level at an acceptable rate.
Parking
Under no circumstances should the guests block driveways or park in non-designated areas. Make sure that their vehicles stay in the designated locations within the primary residence.
Trash
All trash must be stored in trash collection containers.
Conclusion
Las Vegas’s housing and tourism market is continuing its upward trajectory despite the stabilizing period the city underwent after the initial spike experienced after the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the city continues to grow, a property owner can take advantage of this growth through short term rentals once they have undergone the necessary steps to acquire licensure and operate in adherence with the municipal codes.
