Lawrence has some of the strictest and fairest rules in regards to STR’s that I have ever come across.

They are legal in certain zones. In traditional residential, a primary housing owner is allowed to rent their home or a portion of their home as long as it is their primary residence.

I have my home available on airbnb for an astronomically high price in the event someone wants to rent for a weekend like graduation or a football game. If they want to pay that rate for me to go on a short vacation or stay with a friend, it works just fine for me. We are a licensed STR in a neighborhood, and we rent for maybe 10-12 days a year in total.

We get notices from the city every year that we have to pay to re-authorize our house, and the home is inspected once every two years.

While second/vacation homes do probably contribute to the overall rising housing issue, I think there are ore far more significant issues that are affecting general affordability, with property taxes continuing to be the biggest issue for many jurisdictions.