Fort Lauderdale's short-term rental grosses 74% more than long-term rental on a 3-bed house, but after Airbnb fees, the 9.5% lodging tax, insurance and the rest of the cost stack, net yield lands at 2.4% versus 2.0% for long-term rental. The margin is real but thinner than the gross numbers suggest, and on the 2-bed apartment the order flips: long-term rental nets 8.0% against 4.4% for short-term rental.
This article runs the after-costs math for both property types side-by-side: a 3-bed house at roughly $605,000 and a 2-bed apartment at roughly $218,000. The cost structures differ in ways that matter, apartments carry an HOA bill that houses don't pay, but their lower entry price reshapes the yield equation. Most "how much can I make on Airbnb" content covers one property type and skips the side-by-side comparison. Here you get both.
The 3-Bed House: 2.4% Net Yield After All Costs
A self-managed 3-bed house in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County grosses about $54,000 on short-term rental versus about $31,000 on long-term rental. The cost stack is where the gap closes.
| Short-term rental | Long-term rental | |
|---|---|---|
| Property price | $605,000 | $605,000 |
| Gross revenue | $54,000 | $31,000 |
| Airbnb fees (15.5%) | $8,400 | — |
| Insurance | $8,800 | $7,300 |
| Maintenance | $9,000 | $5,900 |
| Utilities | $3,000 | $0 |
| Property tax | $5,600 | $5,600 |
| Short-term rental tax | $5,100 | — |
| Total costs | $40,000 | $19,000 |
| Net income | $14,000 | $12,000 |
| Net yield | 2.4% | 2.0% |
Self-managed assumed for both columns (0% management). Airbnb's host-only fee is 15.5%; other platforms charge differently, Vrbo at roughly 5% and Booking.com at roughly 15%.
What Eats the House Premium
Three line items consume most of the short-term rental premium: Airbnb fees of $8,400, the Florida and Broward lodging tax at 9.5% (around $5,100 annually), and the higher insurance and maintenance loads that come with a furnished, frequently-turned property. Insurance steps up from about $7,300 to about $8,800, and maintenance, which includes furnishing replacement on the short-term side, runs about $9,000 versus about $5,900 for long-term. Utilities also shift onto the owner: about $3,000 for short-term where the long-term tenant typically pays their own.
The result: total operating costs of about $40,000 for short-term against about $19,000 for long-term. The short-term path still wins on net income (about $14,000 vs about $12,000), but the gross revenue lead of 74% compresses dramatically once costs are subtracted.
The 2-Bed Apartment: Lower Entry, HOA Drag
The 2-bed apartment story changes the math. Entry price drops to roughly $218,000 from about $605,000 for the house, but HOA fees of about $2,900 apply regardless of whether the unit runs short-term or long-term.
| Short-term rental | Long-term rental | |
|---|---|---|
| Property price | $218,000 | $218,000 |
| Gross revenue | $33,000 | $27,000 |
| Airbnb fees (15.5%) | $5,000 | — |
| Insurance | $3,200 | $1,700 |
| Maintenance | $4,100 | $2,100 |
| Utilities | $2,500 | $500 |
| Property tax | $2,000 | $2,000 |
| Short-term rental tax | $3,100 | — |
| HOA fees | $2,900 | $2,900 |
| Total costs | $23,000 | $9,300 |
| Net income | $9,700 | $17,000 |
| Net yield | 4.4% | 8.0% |
HOA appears in both columns because it is a property-level cost that applies regardless of rental strategy. Self-managed assumed for both.
House vs Apartment: Which Wins After Costs
Net yield is the apples-to-apples test. On short-term rental, the 3-bed house lands at 2.4% versus 4.4% for the 2-bed apartment. On long-term rental, houses come in at 2.0% against 8.0% for apartments. The apartment's lower entry price of about $218,000 (versus about $605,000 for a house) gives it a denominator advantage, but HOA of about $2,900 per year is a fixed drag that houses simply don't carry.
The takeaway for Fort Lauderdale: property type changes the cost mix more than the gross revenue ratio. Houses carry higher absolute dollar costs but no HOA; apartments cost less to buy but lose a chunk of revenue to the HOA before any rental income is counted. Investors picking between the two should weigh the HOA against the capital outlay difference and how much of their decision rests on appreciation versus yield. Broward is a premium Florida market with a sale price 124.2% above the national median of about $270,000, appreciation potential is part of the case here, not just income.
Gross Break-Even Sits at 29% Occupancy
The 3-bed house's gross break-even, the occupancy at which short-term rental gross matches long-term rental annual rent, is 29%. The Broward market median for short-term occupancy is 51%, which is close to that threshold, so a modest occupancy shortfall would erase the short-term premium. Treat 29% as the gross revenue floor, not a target and not a safe margin. Below it, long-term rental wins on gross revenue alone. Short-term rental also carries higher fixed costs such as management, cleaning, platform fees and utilities, so the occupancy at which net income matches long-term rental net income sits well above this gross figure. At lower-occupancy scenarios of 36%, gross revenue drops to about $39,000; at higher scenarios of 61%, it rises to about $65,000.
View Fort Lauderdale in the dashboard → Free preview · every bedroom count and property type
For full per-neighborhood filtering and saved scenarios, $19 24-hour access. Get access
Hiring a Manager Drops Net Yield to 0.6%
The tables above assume self-management. Hiring a professional short-term rental manager for the 3-bed house adds around $11,000 a year (roughly 20% of gross revenue), pushing total costs to about $51,000 and dropping net yield from 2.4% to 0.6%. That is the true cost of outsourcing turnover, guest communication and listing optimization.
For long-term rental, hiring a leasing agent adds approximately $3,000 (around 9% of rent), bringing net yield down to 1.5%. These are market-rate estimates, individual managers in Broward charge differently, and many investors negotiate better rates on multi-property portfolios.
Tax Treatment: Florida's Zero State Income Tax Helps
Florida has no state income tax, which improves after-tax returns for both rental strategies; federal tax is the only income tax investors pay on the rental income. On the deduction side, residential rental property depreciates over 27.5 years on the building component (roughly $18,000 annually for a property at this price point, based on a building value of about $484,000 at a 80% allocation). Operating costs flow through Schedule E and offset rental income before tax.
Short-term rentals in Fort Lauderdale require a Broward County Business Tax Receipt and a Florida DBPR license. The 9.5% lodging tax (Florida's 6% state plus local) is collected from guests but you administer it. Confirm the current permit requirements, fees, and your specific filing obligations with the City of Fort Lauderdale and a tax professional. The dashboard models after-tax cash flow at the ZIP level so you can stress-test scenarios for your own bracket.
How Suburb Choice Shifts the Picture
City medians hide neighborhood-level variation. Within Broward, Pompano Beach (33069) runs at 5.5% gross yield on a $515,000 entry price, alongside Miramar (33023) at 7.4% and Oakland Park (33309) at 7.1%. These figures use long-term rental gross yield, but they signal where the same after-cost compression is least punishing. Across all 54 Broward ZIPs, gross long-term yield averages 5.1%, 1.0pp below the Florida median of 6.1%.
The dashboard shows suburb-level data for every bedroom count and property type, so you can run the same after-costs math for the specific ZIP you are evaluating rather than relying on the county median. Read the Broward hub article for the full data sources and market score methodology behind these figures, or explore rental data in the dashboard directly. Florida Rental Investment Insights covers what to buy in this market, and Fort Lauderdale Real Costs: House vs Apartment After Airbnb Fees covers where the strongest demand sits.
Take Fort Lauderdale further in the dashboard
Drill into individual neighborhoods, run your own price/rent assumptions, and compare property types side-by-side.
Open Fort Lauderdale →Want to save scenarios and filter every neighborhood?
$19 unlocks the full dashboard for 24-hour access. Unlock the dashboard
Data reflects market conditions as of November 2026.
This information is for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial or legal advice. Regulations and market conditions change frequently. Verify current rules with local authorities before making investment decisions.
Methodology and Assumptions
Defaults used in the figures above. All inputs are adjustable in the dashboard.
How available nights are determined
Available nights default to 330 per year, reflecting an active operator with minimal blocked time. Where local regulations cap whole-home short-term lets (for example New York City 30-day minimum stays and San Francisco un-hosted 90-night caps), the cap is applied. In markets where short-term rental requires owner-occupancy or is otherwise prohibited for investment properties, available nights drop to zero.
How occupancy is measured
The percentage of available nights that get booked, drawn from market data. A property listed for 200 nights with 100 bookings shows 50% occupancy. Adjustable in the dashboard.
Long-term rental management default
Defaults to self-managed (zero management fee), reflecting the most common arrangement for US individual investors. The dashboard slider lets you add a property manager fee if you plan to outsource.
Short-term rental management default
Set to self-managed (zero management fee) by default, the most common arrangement for individual investors. Hiring a professional manager typically costs around 20% of gross revenue and reduces net yield proportionally. Toggle in the dashboard.
How property tax is calculated
Calculated as a percentage of property value, varying by state and county. California properties show lower effective rates due to Proposition 13's 1% cap on assessed value. Property tax sits with the owner; long-term tenants do not pay it.
Local regulations
Check state, county, and HOA rules before investing; these change frequently. The regulations summary in this article reflects the latest data we hold. Always verify the live position with the local authority.
Sampling and data sources
Short-term rental yield figures reflect properties currently listed on short-term rental platforms. In high-tourism markets, listings tend to concentrate in central postcodes, which can pull city-median yields above what residential areas of the same city would achieve. Yields for any specific suburb may differ significantly from the city-wide median.
For metric definitions and broader methodology, see the About page.