AUGUST | Like Montreal and elsewhere in North America, Georgia struggles with short-term rental issues on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo. In Augusta, at the moment of two weeks, the municipality has adjusted its legislation rather to meet the very high demand.
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With the east Georgia city literally being taken over by visitors to the Masters tournament in April, the council passed a tax break called the “Augusta Rule” to protect residents who have long been under pressure.
Landlords who rented out their apartments or accommodations during the Masters campaigned for this new regulation.
Under certain conditions, they can open their doors to guests without having to declare rental income. However, this must be 15 days or less per year. Also, they have to pay the local hotel tax.
From $70 to $1240 per night
Two weeks before the 2023 Masters tournament, the Airbnb platform featured more than 600 short-term rental listings in the greater Augusta, Georgia area.
Two weeks before the tournament, the Airbnb site had more than 600 listings in the Augusta area. Single rooms, condos, and homes were available, while prices ranged from $70 to $800 per night.
This weekend there were nearly 200 ads on Friday night, ranging in price from $200 to $1,240 a night.
It is important to remember that at this time of year the community receives around 250,000 visitors from all over the world. Hotel rooms are booked more than a year in advance. The demand is much stronger than the supply. Because of this, the establishments charge insane prices of upwards of $800 and $1000 per night.
Since the pandemic, the already very high prices have even more than doubled.
Here the “Augusta rule” is interesting for owners who want to benefit from it and for tenants who can “save” something. It can only be applied if the price per night is affordable.
No state law
Currently, there are no laws in Georgia to limit short-term rentals, other than paying lodging taxes.
The eleventh largest state in the United States, with a population of 11.01 million, has left it to the municipalities to enact laws in this regard. The regulations are therefore different in several federal states.
Last summer, the city of Atlanta limited landlords to a maximum of two units. One of them must also be your primary residence.
In addition, they absolutely had to live in the capital, pay a $150 annual license fee, pay an 8% rental tax, and limit renters to a maximum of 30 consecutive days.
This caused an outcry as 54% of owners had more than two addresses at the time the order was placed.
Almost 4,000 listings had disappeared from the Airbnb site by that time.