BNB Hot / STR eligibility checker
STR eligibility checker
Can this address be a short-term rental?
Type any Hot Springs or Garland County address. We read the city's public GIS and tell you whether it sits inside the city limits, what its zoning is, and whether it can be licensed and operated as a short-term rental.
Check an address
Type a street address in Hot Springs or Garland County. We read the City of Hot Springs public GIS and tell you whether it sits inside the city limits, what its zoning is, and whether it can be licensed and run as a short-term rental. This is the one question most listings never answer before you make an offer.
Start typing a street number and name. Suggestions come from the city's live address records.
Try it: 186 Echo Pt (outside the city) · 100 Central Ave (in the city)
How eligibility works in Hot Springs
Three outcomes cover almost every address in the area. The checker above tells you which one you are looking at; here is what each means.
- Outside the city limits (unincorporated Garland County). The city's short-term-rental license and its cap apply only inside the city. County addresses are not under the city license at all, so they can host without a Hot Springs permit. Many Lake Hamilton and Lake Ouachita properties fall here.
- Inside the city, residential zone. R-R, R-S and RN-1 through RN-6 share a single cap of 400 licenses. That cap has been full since July 1, 2025, with no waitlist, so no new residential license is available. Historic Property Registry homes and condos recorded before January 18, 2022 are the exceptions.
- Inside the city, non-residential zone. C-TR, C-N, C-MU, C-G, CBD, I-L, I-H and I-MU sit outside the residential cap, so a property in one of these zones can still apply for a new license. This is the commercial route around the closed cap, covered on our commercial-zone STR page.
Common questions
Is this an official city determination?
No. It reads the City of Hot Springs public GIS, the same data behind the city's own maps, and applies the published license rules. It is accurate guidance, not a permit decision. Always confirm a specific address with Hot Springs Planning and Development at 501-321-6905 before you rely on it.
My address shows "inside the city" but I think it's in the county.
Mailing addresses are misleading here. A property can have a "Hot Springs, AR" mailing address and still be in unincorporated Garland County, or the reverse. The checker uses the city's parcel jurisdiction field, not the mailing city, which is the number that governs licensing.
The home already operates as an Airbnb. Can I keep it going after I buy it?
If it is in the county, there is no city license to worry about. If it is inside the city, a license is annual and tied to the owner's application; it does not transfer automatically with the sale, so confirm the path to re-licensing with the city before you remove contingencies.
What if the checker can't find my address?
Try a shorter form, like the street number plus the first word of the street name. New or recently split parcels may not be in the public layer yet. Send us the address through the contact form and we'll look it up.