Short-Term & Mid-Term Rentals in St. Louis, MO
A permit regime on pause, a new three percent fee, and real demand.
The City of St. Louis enacted a short-term rental permit ordinance in 2024, had it partly halted by a court in 2025, and began collecting a voter-approved three percent fee in 2026. We follow the current state closely, and we know where the thirty-day model avoids all of it.
Furnished rentals in the City of St. Louis
The City of St. Louis is about thirty to thirty-five minutes from our office at 920 First Capitol Drive in St. Charles. Its 2024 ordinance defined a short-term rental as a stay of thirty days or less and created occupied and non-occupied permits with caps, a two-night minimum, a 24/7 agent, and a conditional-use hearing in single-family zones. A lawsuit over the annual fee produced a court order in 2025, and the city paused enforcement. Separately, the voter-approved three percent fee on short-term rental revenue took effect in early 2026, with a business license and quarterly remittance.
Stays of thirty days and longer were always outside that ordinance, and the demand for them is the deepest in the metro. The Washington University Medical Campus and Barnes-Jewish in the Central West End, Saint Louis University, Cortex, and the new NGA West campus bring residents, fellows, researchers, and relocating staff who need a furnished apartment or house for one to twelve months. A furnished unit in the Central West End, Forest Park Southeast, Tower Grove South, or Shaw fills from that calendar.
What a furnished rental needs
Listing and pricing
Professional photos and placement on the platforms where traveling professionals and insurers actually book, priced for the season.
Guest screening
Background and credit checks built for longer stays, with employment, travel purpose, and references verified before anyone gets a key.
Turnovers
Cleaning teams trained for furnished homes handle deep cleans, linens, restocking, and a wear check between every stay.
Furnishing guidance
A specific list of what a mid-term guest needs and a realistic cost before you buy a single piece.
Maintenance
Regular inspections and fast repairs through local vendors, so the property stays in the condition a company is paying for.
Reporting
Monthly statements with occupancy and revenue, so you can see how the model is performing without running it.
What a furnished St. Louis rental runs into
- Nightly rules in motion
- The permit ordinance, the court order, and the new fee all apply to stays of thirty days or less, and the city's position has changed more than once. We check the current requirements before listing anything nightly and keep the business license and fee filings current if you choose that model.
- The occupancy permit still applies
- The city's Housing Conservation occupancy permit is required before a vacant unit is occupied, and rentals are re-inspected every three years. A furnished rental follows the same rules.
- Medical campus demand
- Thirteen-week nursing contracts, residency rotations, and research fellowships at the medical campus are the core of the monthly market, and proximity to the Central West End is what those guests pay for.
- The numbers
- A three-bedroom in the city listed unfurnished from about $1,600 to $2,300 depending on the neighborhood in 2026, with purchase prices near $190,000 to $270,000. A furnished monthly rate near the medical campus can run well above the lease, and the analysis shows the net for your address.
More in St. Louis
- Short-Term & Mid-Term RentalsHow this service works everywhere we manage, in full.
- Property management in St. LouisFull-service management for St. Louis rentals, with local rules and rents.
- Buy, Sell & Invest in St. LouisBuy, sell, or underwrite a St. Louis rental with a manager's eye.
- The $100 Property AssessmentAn hour on site at your St. Louis property and a written summary.
Furnished rentals in nearby cities
- Maryland Heights, MO
- Creve Coeur, MO
- Florissant, MO
- Hazelwood, MO
- All of St. Louis County
- Every service area
Need a furnished place or a home to rent in St. Louis? See our available properties.
St. Louis questions, answered
It depends on the address. Rules in the St. Louis area are set city by city, and some municipalities require registration or restrict nightly rentals by zoning while treating thirty-day-plus stays as ordinary rentals. We check the requirements for your specific St. Louis property, along with any HOA, mortgage, and insurance restrictions, before anything is listed.
Traveling healthcare workers on contracts near the hospitals, project crews housed by their employer, families displaced by a fire or water loss with the insurer paying, and people relocating into the area who need a furnished base before they buy. In most cases an organization is paying the bill.
Sometimes, and sometimes less once furnishing, utilities, internet, cleaning, and calendar gaps are counted. We compare a long-term lease with the mid-term and short-term models for your St. Louis address so you see the net number for each before you spend anything on furniture.
Stay length does more to prevent problems than any policy. Someone booking a home for three months to work a job is a different guest than someone booking a Saturday night. Every booking is screened against the same written criteria, house rules are clear, a deposit or damage protection is in place, and we lean toward longer stays.
Yes. Blocked dates cost occupancy, so we show you what a particular block is worth before you commit to it, and then you decide with the number in front of you.
Find out which model fits your St. Louis property.
See a side-by-side comparison of how your St. Louis home performs under a long-term lease, a mid-term rental, and a short-term rental, built on real numbers for your address.