Short-term rentals in Destin and Fort Walton Beach

Destin grew from a fishing village into one of the busiest family beach towns on the Gulf, and Fort Walton Beach with Okaloosa Island sits just west across East Pass. The market mixes condo towers on Holiday Isle and Okaloosa Island, townhomes around the harbor, and single-family homes near Crystal Beach and along the bay. Families pour in from Memorial Day to Labor Day, spring break adds a second peak, and Eglin Air Force Base and Hurlburt Field bring year-round visitors, contractors and families on temporary duty.

Three jurisdictions in a few miles

• City of Destin: each short-term rental must be registered with the city every year, and a change of ownership means a new registration. Fees scale with the size of the home, occupancy is tied to the number of legal bedrooms, and the responsible party must live within 30 miles and be able to respond within one hour. Rentals are allowed in a majority of the city's zoning districts, not in all of them.
• Unincorporated Okaloosa County, which includes Okaloosa Island: the county reserves the right to require registration, occupancy limits and inspections. On the island, protective covenants in the B-1 zone also apply, and the county's growth management office can confirm whether a given unit may be rented.
• Fort Walton Beach: the city council has discussed its own rules; check their status with the city before listing.

The state layer and the tourist tax

Florida's s. 509.032(7) stops cities and counties from banning vacation rentals or limiting how often they are rented, unless the rule dates from before June 1, 2011. The state, for its part, requires a vacation rental license from the DBPR for homes or condos rented more than three times a year for less than 30 days. Sales tax is filed with the Department of Revenue, while Okaloosa County collects its tourist development tax itself, through the Clerk of Courts, on every stay of six months or less.

The county also issues a warning worth repeating: if the property carries a homestead exemption, renting it can cost you the exemption and several years of back taxes.

Our advice

In a condo, the building's own rules come first: check-in procedures, parking passes and pool policies differ from tower to tower. For a house in Destin, choose the responsible party before closing, because the 30-mile rule makes a distant manager noncompliant. We study every request and tell you honestly whether and how we can help.