Local, full-service Airbnb, VRBO, and short-term rental management for homeowners in Redmond — including what the city's brand-new short-term rental license law (effective January 2026) actually requires, and what it doesn't.
Redmond pairs some of the region's highest-value, most travel-heavy employers with genuine leisure draws — and that's what keeps a well-run short-term rental booked in both segments, not just in summer. Microsoft's global headquarters sits in Redmond and anchors an estimated 50,000+ Puget Sound jobs, generating year-round corporate travel, relocations, contractors, and visiting-team housing demand that has nothing to do with tourist season. A few miles down the road, Nintendo of America's headquarters and SpaceX's Starlink factory — where the company designs, builds, and tests its satellites — add a steady stream of their own business travelers and industry visitors to the same corridor.
On the leisure side, Marymoor Park draws more than 3 million visitors a year to Washington State's only velodrome, an off-leash dog park, a climbing rock, and the Marymoor Live outdoor concert series. Redmond's own summer festival, Derby Days, brings a parade, carnival, live music, and a drone show downtown every mid-July, and Sound Transit's 2 Line — which reached Downtown Redmond Station in May 2025 — gave the city its first direct rail connection to Bellevue and Seattle, a real draw for car-free business and leisure guests alike.
Yes — Redmond's short-term rental ordinance is brand new (effective January 1, 2026), so we'd rather walk you through exactly what it requires before you spend a dollar.
Under Redmond Municipal Code (RMC) Chapter 5.04, effective January 1, 2026, the city adopted Washington's state definition of short-term rental (RCW 64.37) and layered on a city business-license requirement — but it did not impose a blanket owner-occupancy mandate on whole-home rentals. The only occupancy-related carve-out exempts a narrower, hosted scenario from the STR definition entirely: an owner who lives in the home at least 6 months of the year and rents fewer than 3 rooms at a time. That's a home-share exemption, not a requirement on whole-home operators. You may have seen a "185-day" rule cited for Redmond online — we traced that claim and couldn't find it in any Redmond city document; it's actually neighboring Kirkland's real 245-day owner-occupancy rule, misattributed to Redmond by several SEO blogs. We didn't want to repeat someone else's error.
Last reviewed July 2026. This is a brand-new ordinance (effective January 1, 2026) — this is a summary, not legal advice, and we confirm current requirements directly with the city before a listing goes live. Primary sources: City of Redmond — Short-Term Rentals, the Redmond Short-Term Rental Guide, the city's October 2025 Council Issues Matrix, and the WA Dept. of Revenue Q2 2026 lodging tax rate table.
Most Redmond owners never find out what their home could earn between Microsoft's corporate travel calendar and Marymoor Park's weekend crowds — and every month is money that could be left on the table. We won't invent a figure for you — get a free report with real comparable listings for your exact address.
Because Redmond's short-term rental law only took effect January 1, 2026, most owners haven't caught up with it — and most SEO blogs are actively getting it wrong. We handle the City of Redmond business license application, the Safety Checklist, the Tenant Rights notice, dynamic pricing tuned to Microsoft's corporate calendar and Marymoor Park's event weekends, guest messaging, cleaner scheduling, and lodging tax remittance.
Whole-home, ADU, or a room in your primary residence — Redmond doesn't force you into a single model the way Everett does. We'll tell you honestly on the call which setup makes sense for your property.
See exactly what's included →Get a free property report emailed to you — real comparable listings, an honest read on the new license law, and what it'd take to get started. No pressure, no payment.
