Self-managing in Bonita Springs means handling the city permit and Lee County taxes yourself. You do the paperwork, a local person handles visits, cleaning and repairs, and BnBGenius answers guest messages on Airbnb and Vrbo 24/7.
The city sets its own permit rule.
“every owner of a property in the City of Bonita Springs who rents a non-owner occupied single-family, duplex or multi-family (excluding any properties with more than six dwelling units that are regulated under Florida Statutes Ch. 718, Condominiums, or Florida Statutes Ch. 719, Homeowners Associations) dwelling, regardless of the term of the lease being transient (short term under six months, except for exemptions filed by lodging establishments) or a long term rental, is required to get a rental permit from the City Manager or designee prior to leasing, subleasing, renting or allowing the occupancy of such unit to another natural person or other natural persons, regardless of relationship to the owner”
Source: City of Bonita Springs
What this means for you: Read the quoted scope and the exceptions against your own unit. If you are not sure your property is covered, ask the city before you list.
What BnBGenius Does for a Host in Bonita Springs
Answers guest messages on Airbnb and Vrbo 24/7
This works on Vrbo automated messages too.
Requests a review from the guest and publishes the host’s review
Kent Morgan, BnBGenius co-founder:
“We went from reviewing 40% of stays to 100% overnight. The AI even thanked guests for things we fixed mid-stay. Our review-to-review rate jumped immediately.”
Creates cleaning and repair tasks after checkout
For the human side, see managing a cleaning team without text chains.
Kent Morgan:
“We used to find out about issues in post-stay reviews. Now BnBGenius flags them mid-stay, creates the task, and our cleaners respond in under 15 minutes.”
Answers guest calls with a voice AI agent (Voice Concierge, an add-on)
Kent Morgan:
“The concierge answered 84% of our after-hours calls last month without waking anyone up. Guests thought it was our in-house team the whole time.”
Sells gap nights, early check-in and late checkout
Kent Morgan:
“BnBGenius filled nine gap nights in the first month. $2.3k we would have lost. Guests got a friendly Airbnb message and we didn’t lift a finger.”
Is run from Telegram
BnBGenius is not a PMS, channel manager, calendar sync, direct-booking, pricing or accounting tool — see whether you need an Airbnb PMS.
Your Local Person
Visits, cleaning and repairs need a person on the ground. The city also requires a human contact.
“No permit shall be issued or renewed until the applicant or permit holder has provided the name and phone number of a natural person 18 years of age or older who can be contacted 24 hours a day, seven days a week, regarding the rental unit. This contact person may be the owner, the owner’s agent, or any other person other than a resident of the rental unit who has agreed to be the contact person.”
Source: Bonita Springs Code
What this means for you: Arrange a contact who is 18 or older, reachable 24/7, agrees to serve, and does not live in the unit. The rule sets no on-site response time, so do not guess one.
The inspection also needs someone present.
“The unit must be inspected by a Code Enforcement Officer- this inspection is for minimum living standards as required in the International Property Maintenance Code; this is conducted with the property owner or his/her designee/manager present at the inspection- inspection results are discussed at the time of the inspection, including any corrections that must be made to bring the property into compliance;”
Source: City of Bonita Springs
What this means for you: Agree in advance who attends with the officer. Discuss the results there and fix anything flagged.
What the City Requires
| Item | City quote |
|---|---|
| Permit fee | “This completed application must be submitted with a permit fee of $100.00 per unit” (Source: City of Bonita Springs) |
| Permit validity | “Once issued, such permit shall be valid for a three-year period commencing on the date of application submittal.” (Source: City of Bonita Springs) |
What this means for you: Submit the fee with your application, per unit. Track the three-year term from the date you submit the application.
“All violations of any City Ordinance or the International Property Maintenance Code must be brought into compliance before the permit is issued;”
Source: City of Bonita Springs
What this means for you: Fix anything the officer cites before the permit is issued.
Parking, Occupancy and Noise
| Rule | City quote |
|---|---|
| Tenant list | “The permittee and appointed agent, if any, shall maintain a list of the names of tenants in each dwelling unit. Such lists shall be available to the city upon reasonable notice for inspection.” (Source: Bonita Springs Code) |
| Neighborhood pamphlet | “The city shall provide the permittee or agent with copies of pamphlets containing information on living in a residential neighborhood. The permittee or agent shall provide a pamphlet to at least one tenant of each dwelling unit covered by this article before executing a lease for the unit.” (Source: Bonita Springs Code) |
| Reinspection | “Any rental unit found not in compliance with this article shall be subject to reinspection until compliance is achieved. The cost for each reinspection is $50.00.” (Source: Bonita Springs Code) |
| Parking | “No parking area for residential use may be leased, rented or otherwise provided for consideration to someone not residing on the property.” (Source: Bonita Springs Code) |
| Whole-unit space | “Every dwelling unit shall contain at least 150 sq. ft. of floor space for the first occupant and at least an additional 100 sq. ft. per additional occupant.” (Source: Bonita Springs IPMC packet) |
| Sleeping-room space | “At least 70 sq. ft. of floor space for a single occupant and at least 120 sq. ft. for two occupants and an additional 50 sq. ft. for every occupant thereafter.” (Source: Bonita Springs IPMC packet) |
| Activity hours | “Operation of equipment or conduct of activities such as lawn care, soil cultivation, domestic power tools, lawn mowers, maintenance of trees, hedges, gardens, saw and tractors, street sweepers, mosquito fogging, tree trimming and limb chipping and other normal community operations are permitted only between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.” (Source: Bonita Springs IPMC packet) |
What this means for you: Keep your tenant list and pamphlet ready before you sign a lease. Check the quoted space and parking limits for your unit. Schedule the listed lawn and maintenance work inside the quoted window — it is not a guest quiet-hours rule.
Taxes
“Florida’s 6% state sales tax, plus any applicable discretionary sales surtax, applies to rental charges or room rates paid for the right to use or occupy living quarters or sleeping or housekeeping accommodations for rental periods of six months or less, often called “transient accommodations” or “transient rentals.””
Source: Florida Department of Revenue
What this means for you: Check whether your stay falls in the quoted period. If it does, include the applicable taxes.
| Tax | Official rate |
|---|---|
| Lee County tourist development tax | “Lee 5% County” (Source: Florida Department of Revenue) |
| Lee County discretionary sales surtax | “Lee .5% Jan 1, 2019 Dec 31, 2028” (Source: Florida Department of Revenue) |
What this means for you: Use the current quoted Lee rows. Check the form’s stated period before you rely on a rate.
What Airbnb and Vrbo List
| Platform | Taxes its page lists | Your responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Airbnb | “Florida Transient Rental Tax: 6% of the listing price including any cleaning fee for reservations 182 nights and shorter.” (Source: Airbnb Help) “Florida Discretionary Sales Surtax: 0.5%-1.5% of the listing price including any cleaning fee for reservations 182 nights and shorter.” (Source: Airbnb Help) “Lee County Tourist Development Tax: 5% of the listing price including any cleaning fee for reservations 182 nights and shorter.” (Source: Airbnb Help) | “Hosts may need to manually collect and remit other applicable taxes on their stay or experience price.” (Source: Airbnb Help) |
| Vrbo | “Florida State Transient Rentals Tax, Discretionary County Surtax Note: Discretionary County Surtax is state tax surcharges required by various counties that Vrbo will also be collecting and remitting. These rates vary between 0.5-2%. The state of Florida under 184 nights” (Source: Vrbo Help) “Lee County County Tourist Development Tax Lee County under 184 nights December 1, 2018” (Source: Vrbo Help) | “You’re also responsible for collecting and remitting lodging taxes when we’re not liable to do so.” (Source: Vrbo Help) |
What this means for you: Each platform states its own coverage. Check each booking’s tax breakdown. Remit the applicable taxes the platform does not collect. BnBGenius does not do accounting or remit taxes; for that side see Airbnb accounting and tax software.
Airbnb and Vrbo
| Topic | Airbnb | Vrbo |
|---|---|---|
| Check-in details | “Guests will see your check-in method (such as smart lock, keypad, or lock box) but they won’t see the detailed check-in instructions until 48 hours before check-in.” (Source: Airbnb Help) | “The welcome guide information is emailed to your guests in the language you wrote it in, three days before check-in.” (Source: Vrbo Help) |
What this means for you: Follow each platform’s quoted timing for check-in details. Put the same local facts in your instructions on both. Add parking rules, activity hours, and your contact’s number. Keep both sets of instructions the same.
How to Start
More City Guides
- Self-managing an Airbnb in Sarasota, FL
- Self-managing an Airbnb in Coral Springs, FL
- Self-managing an Airbnb in Bradenton, FL
- Self-managing an Airbnb in Tamarac, FL
- Florida short-term rental laws by city
Rules and rates last checked on 3 October 2026.
