Author: Mike Chen

A Kissimmee host called us last year after getting a letter from the Osceola County Tax Collector. She’d been on Airbnb for two years. Assumed the platform handled all her Florida vacation rental taxes. Turns out, Airbnb never collected a dime of her county’s tourist tax. She owed $7,200 in back taxes, plus penalties. She’s … Continued

Your cleaner texts you at 7am: the AC is blowing warm air. Guest checks in at 3pm. It’s August in Florida. You have eight hours to find an HVAC tech, get them to the property, diagnose the problem, and fix it before a family of six walks into a 92-degree house. That’s vacation rental emergency … Continued

AirCover promises $3 million in free protection. It won’t cover hurricanes, pool accidents, or your VRBO bookings. AirCover is free, automatic, and the numbers look great: $3 million in damage protection, $1 million in liability. Then a guest trashes your pool deck. A storm rips off the lanai. Someone slips on a wet tile, and … Continued

Let’s skip the legal jargon and talk numbers. Setting up an LLC for a vacation rental in Florida costs about $375. A single slip-and-fall lawsuit in Florida settles for $75,000 to $175,000 on average. Severe cases? A Broward County jury returned a $7.5 million verdict in 2024 for a spinal injury on a commercial property. … Continued

Real fee data, performance benchmarks, and what actually works in Central Florida’s vacation rental market. If you own a vacation rental in Orlando, Kissimmee, or Davenport, you have heard these two terms thrown around: co-hosting vs property management. They sound similar. They are not. Choosing the wrong model can cost you thousands of dollars a … Continued

International investors purchased more than 78,100 US residential properties in the 12 months ending March 2025. That is a 44% increase over the prior year and the first year-over-year gain since 2017, according to the 2025 NAR International Transactions Report. Florida captured 21% of those purchases, extending its streak as the top destination for foreign … Continued

Managing Florida vacation rental pool safety is one of the most important responsibilities for short-term rental owners in Central Florida. Mike Chen, founder of FunStay Florida and a licensed property manager overseeing more than 100 vacation rentals with pools across Orlando, Kissimmee, and Davenport, developed this guide from real compliance costs and operational data across … Continued

QUICK ANSWER An Orlando vacation rental game room costs $7,500 to $25,000 depending on the build tier, adds $25 to $75 per night in rate premiums, and pays for itself within 6 to 18 months in family markets near Disney World and Universal. Themed bedrooms cost $3,000 to $15,000 per room and command even higher … Continued

Mike Chen, a licensed Florida real estate broker and STR manager at FunStay Florida, has walked hundreds of Orlando homeowners through the insurance question. The answer is rarely simple. Short-term rental insurance in Orlando is not a single policy. It is a stack of coverage types that work together to protect the property, the revenue, … Continued

Mike Chen, a licensed Florida real estate broker and vacation rental manager at FunStay Florida, tracks seasonal booking patterns across the Orlando corridor every year. One thing stays consistent: owners who price around the Orlando Airbnb peak season calendar outperform those who set a flat rate year-round. The gap between a property earning $55,000 and … Continued