Short-Term vs Mid-Term Rental in Vancouver: Real Numbers Compared

Q: How much does a Vancouver short-term rental (STR) earn?

A downtown 2BR run as a short term rental under 30 nights averaged $7,420/month gross in Q1 2026, with average net to owner of $3,780/month, which works out to roughly $89,000 annual gross at 76% average occupancy and a $325 average daily rate. The gross looks great until the turnover costs land and pull it down to net. Here is the cost stack: Cleaning (turnovers): $1,150/month Platform fees (Airbnb 3%, Vrbo ~5%): $260/month Supplies (linens, toiletries, consumables): $180/month Utilities, internet, streaming: $290/month Management fee (20 25% gross): $1,670/month Insurance loading (vs LTR): $90/month That nets to $3,780/month, or $45,360/year, and the workload if self managing runs 12 20 hours a week on messaging, pricing, cleaner coordination, supply runs, and guest issues. That is realistic, not optimistic. The risk is real too: bylaw compliance is huge (see Vancouver STR bylaws), plus booking gaps, guest damage, bad reviews tanking future bookings, and platform algorithm changes that move your income without warning.

Q: How much does a Vancouver mid-term rental (MTR) earn?

A downtown 2BR run as a mid term rental on 28 night to roughly 6 month stays averaged $5,400/month gross in Q1 2026, with average net to owner of $3,910/month, which is about $64,800 annual gross at 91% occupancy, much higher than STR. The typical guest is an insurance relocation, a corporate relocation, a traveling nurse, film industry, a divorce or separation, a renovation displacement, or a snowbird in reverse. The cost stack is far lighter than STR: Cleaning (between guests, every 1 4 months): $180/month average Platform fees (Furnished Finder, Blueground, direct): $80/month Supplies: $90/month Utilities, internet: $290/month Management fee (12 18% gross): $810/month Insurance: $40/month loading That nets to $3,910/month, or $46,920/year, which is higher than STR and surprises most owners. The reason is that MTR has 80% lower cleaning costs, 70% lower management complexity, and 91% occupancy versus 76%, so STR pulls higher gross but bleeds it back through turnover. Workload self managing is just 2 4 hours a week, mostly inquiries and the occasional maintenance call. Bylaw risk is almost none. The main risk is tenancy creep, a 3 month guest who becomes a 9 month guest claiming tenancy rights, which a good operator avoids with proper agreements.

Q: How much does a Vancouver long-term rental (LTR) earn?

A downtown 2BR rented unfurnished on a 12 month plus lease pulls about $4,200/month market rent, netting roughly $3,750/month to the owner, which is $50,400 annual gross at 99% occupancy, effectively zero vacancy in Vancouver. The cost stack is almost nothing: Cleaning: $0 Platform fees: $0 Supplies: $0 Utilities (typically tenant paid): $0 Management fee (8 10% gross): $360/month Insurance: standard That nets to $3,750/month, or $45,000/year, and the workload self managing is near zero except annual lease renewals and the occasional maintenance call. The risk is limited under the BC Residential Tenancy Act, but it cuts the other way: you cannot raise rent more than the annual cap of 3.5% in 2026, you cannot evict for own use without a strict process, and a bad tenant takes 4 9 months to remove. Low effort, low ceiling, low flexibility, and the safest of the three if you simply do not want to think about the unit at all.

Q: What about combining strategies into a hybrid?

Most of our top performing owners run hybrid models, and a well run hybrid pulls $86,000 $94,000 net on a Vancouver downtown 2BR, which is roughly $40K more than any single strategy can produce on the same unit. The play is STR from May through September, when peak weeks pull $450 $650/night, then MTR from October through April, when STR bookings drop to 50% occupancy and bleed money. The catch is that a hybrid requires an operator who runs both calendars, both pricing models, and both guest pipelines at once, so it is not something you DIY around a day job. The owners who win on hybrid are the ones who hand the calendar to someone whose only job is keeping it optimized through both seasons, which is exactly where a single self managing owner runs out of hours and starts leaving the $40K on the table.

Q: How do I know which strategy is right for my unit?

Three questions answer 90% of it: does your strata and the city permit STR, what is your building's STR comp set actually pulling, and how involved do you want to be? Walk them in order, because the first one can rule out a whole strategy before you spend a dollar: 1. Does your strata + the city permit STR for your unit? Read Vancouver Short Term Rental Bylaws (Updated 2026) first. If no, you are choosing between MTR and LTR. 2. What is your unit's STR comp set actually pulling? We pull the data for free. If your building is doing $9K/month on STR, you skip MTR. If your building is doing $4,200, you skip STR. 3. How much do you want to be involved? Be honest. "I want to make money" and "I want to do nothing" can both be true, but they push toward different strategies. Get a free property estimate at artinproperties.ca/add your property. We will model all three strategies for your specific unit: STR, MTR, LTR, and the hybrid, with real comp data, real net numbers, and no pitch. Then you decide.

Every Vancouver owner asks the same three questions. Should I Airbnb it, should I do furnished monthly, or should I just put a tenant in it for a year? Most of the answers online are written by people who have never run any of those models in Vancouver, with Vancouver bylaws, in Vancouver weather, with Vancouver cleaning costs. Here is the breakdown using real numbers from 60+ units we either manage or have direct comp access to: same unit type, same neighborhood, three different strategies, with Q1 2026 actuals instead of the best month cherry-picked to sell a service.

What unit are these numbers based on?

For this comparison we use a representative Vancouver 2BR/2BA, 850 sqft, downtown core, water view, well-furnished, in a building that permits all three rental types. The downtown core here means the Yaletown, Coal Harbour, and West End range. This is not theoretical and it is not a model pulled off a national average, because we have at least 4 real comps for each of the three scenarios below, drawn from units we manage or have direct statement access to. Holding the unit constant is the only honest way to compare strategies. If you change the square footage, the view, or the building grade between scenarios, you are no longer comparing strategies, you are comparing apartments. So the numbers that follow describe one apartment run three different ways, with real Q1 2026 figures behind every line.

How much does a Vancouver short-term rental (STR) earn?

A downtown 2BR run as a short-term rental under 30 nights averaged $7,420/month gross in Q1 2026, with average net to owner of $3,780/month, which works out to roughly $89,000 annual gross at 76% average occupancy and a $325 average daily rate. The gross looks great until the turnover costs land and pull it down to net. Here is the cost stack:

Cleaning (turnovers): $1,150/month
Platform fees (Airbnb 3%, Vrbo ~5%): $260/month
Supplies (linens, toiletries, consumables): $180/month
Utilities, internet, streaming: $290/month
Management fee (20-25% gross): $1,670/month
Insurance loading (vs LTR): $90/month

That nets to $3,780/month, or $45,360/year, and the workload if self-managing runs 12-20 hours a week on messaging, pricing, cleaner coordination, supply runs, and guest issues. That is realistic, not optimistic. The risk is real too: bylaw compliance is huge (see Vancouver STR bylaws), plus booking gaps, guest damage, bad reviews tanking future bookings, and platform algorithm changes that move your income without warning.

How much does a Vancouver mid-term rental (MTR) earn?

A downtown 2BR run as a mid-term rental on 28-night to roughly 6-month stays averaged $5,400/month gross in Q1 2026, with average net to owner of $3,910/month, which is about $64,800 annual gross at 91% occupancy, much higher than STR. The typical guest is an insurance relocation, a corporate relocation, a traveling nurse, film industry, a divorce or separation, a renovation displacement, or a snowbird in reverse. The cost stack is far lighter than STR:

Cleaning (between guests, every 1-4 months): $180/month average
Platform fees (Furnished Finder, Blueground, direct): $80/month
Supplies: $90/month
Utilities, internet: $290/month
Management fee (12-18% gross): $810/month
Insurance: $40/month loading

That nets to $3,910/month, or $46,920/year, which is higher than STR and surprises most owners. The reason is that MTR has 80% lower cleaning costs, 70% lower management complexity, and 91% occupancy versus 76%, so STR pulls higher gross but bleeds it back through turnover. Workload self-managing is just 2-4 hours a week, mostly inquiries and the occasional maintenance call. Bylaw risk is almost none. The main risk is tenancy creep, a 3-month guest who becomes a 9-month guest claiming tenancy rights, which a good operator avoids with proper agreements.

How much does a Vancouver long-term rental (LTR) earn?

A downtown 2BR rented unfurnished on a 12-month-plus lease pulls about $4,200/month market rent, netting roughly $3,750/month to the owner, which is $50,400 annual gross at 99% occupancy, effectively zero vacancy in Vancouver. The cost stack is almost nothing:

Cleaning: $0
Platform fees: $0
Supplies: $0
Utilities (typically tenant-paid): $0
Management fee (8-10% gross): $360/month
Insurance: standard

That nets to $3,750/month, or $45,000/year, and the workload self-managing is near zero except annual lease renewals and the occasional maintenance call. The risk is limited under the BC Residential Tenancy Act, but it cuts the other way: you cannot raise rent more than the annual cap of 3.5% in 2026, you cannot evict for own-use without a strict process, and a bad tenant takes 4-9 months to remove. Low effort, low ceiling, low flexibility, and the safest of the three if you simply do not want to think about the unit at all.

So which rental strategy actually wins?

Ranked by net income on a Q1 2026 Vancouver downtown 2BR, MTR wins at $46,920/year, STR is second at $45,360/year, and LTR is third at $45,000/year, so all three land within $2,000 of each other on net. That means the real decision is about workload and risk, not headline gross. Here is the full comparison side by side:

Strategy	Gross/mo	Net/mo	Annual net	Occupancy	Workload/wk	Bylaw risk
STR (<30 nights)	$7,420	$3,780	$45,360	76%	12-20 hrs	High
MTR (28 nights-6 mo)	$5,400	$3,910	$46,920	91%	2-4 hrs	Almost none
LTR (12+ months)	$4,200	$3,750	$45,000	99%	Near zero	Limited

MTR is the math winner, but only if you have a building that allows it and an operator who can keep the calendar 90%+ full. STR is the gross winner, and the right choice if it is your principal residence, you have a competent operator, and you actually want the upside on event weekends and peak summer. LTR is the simplicity winner, and the right choice if you do not want to think about your unit at all.

What about combining strategies into a hybrid?

Most of our top-performing owners run hybrid models, and a well-run hybrid pulls $86,000-$94,000 net on a Vancouver downtown 2BR, which is roughly $40K more than any single strategy can produce on the same unit. The play is STR from May through September, when peak weeks pull $450-$650/night, then MTR from October through April, when STR bookings drop to 50% occupancy and bleed money. The catch is that a hybrid requires an operator who runs both calendars, both pricing models, and both guest pipelines at once, so it is not something you DIY around a day job. The owners who win on hybrid are the ones who hand the calendar to someone whose only job is keeping it optimized through both seasons, which is exactly where a single self-managing owner runs out of hours and starts leaving the $40K on the table.

How do I know which strategy is right for my unit?

Three questions answer 90% of it: does your strata and the city permit STR, what is your building's STR comp set actually pulling, and how involved do you want to be? Walk them in order, because the first one can rule out a whole strategy before you spend a dollar:

Does your strata + the city permit STR for your unit? Read Vancouver Short-Term Rental Bylaws (Updated 2026) first. If no, you are choosing between MTR and LTR.
What is your unit's STR comp set actually pulling? We pull the data for free. If your building is doing $9K/month on STR, you skip MTR. If your building is doing $4,200, you skip STR.
How much do you want to be involved? Be honest. "I want to make money" and "I want to do nothing" can both be true, but they push toward different strategies.

Get a free property estimate at artinproperties.ca/add-your-property. We will model all three strategies for your specific unit: STR, MTR, LTR, and the hybrid, with real comp data, real net numbers, and no pitch. Then you decide.