Florida

Why physicians are looking at Key West

Key West is a top-3 US short-term rental market, and unlike most vacation towns it earns year-round: luxury island demand holds 72% occupancy against a $425/night rate. Scarcity is the engine — there is only so much Key West, no new supply of it, and a national guest base willing to pay for it in every season. For physician investors, this is the closest thing Florida offers to a blue-chip STR: extraordinary revenue, extraordinary entry price, and a thesis built on permanence rather than momentum.

The numbers, interpreted

You wouldn't send a family-medicine doc to do brain surgery — and you shouldn't run a $985,000 island asset with generalist assumptions. The specialist numbers: $425/night at 72% occupancy yields roughly $306 RevPAR and about $9,180/month gross — nearly double Panama City Beach ($5,010/month on $485,000) and more than double Destin ($4,446/month on $635,000). But the 29.3× GRM and ~2.2% cap say plainly: this is a scarcity-and-appreciation play whose current yield is thin relative to capital deployed. Underwrite as a hospitality business with luxury-grade operating costs, and let gross-to-net honesty set your expectations.

Costs and rules to underwrite

Property taxes at 0.83% run roughly $8,180/yr on this basis, in a state with no income tax. Insurance leads every Florida underwriting, and island exposure makes it decisive here — wind and flood quotes on the specific property come before the offer, always. Regulation is the second gate: Key West operates under moderate-but-notably-tight STR rules, and licensing is genuinely restrictive. Verify the property's specific short-term-rental legality and transferability of any license before closing; in this market, the entitlement can be worth as much as the house.

Building your local team in Key West

At this price, the local team will make or break the investment — there is no margin for learning on the job. You need STR management with a luxury track record, a realtor who understands licensed-rental inventory and its scarcity premiums, an insurance broker quoting island policies up front, and serious furnishing capital. Even in a scarcity market, guests compare listings side by side, and properties with distinctive character and standout amenities historically out-earn commodity units. Dr Home Investor introduces you to vetted local team members — including a Realtor match with boots on the ground — replacing the blind Google search that a near-seven-figure decision cannot afford.

Bottom line

Key West pairs ~$9,180/month gross revenue with year-round 72% occupancy — top-tier US STR economics on a $985,000 scarcity asset. The ~2.2% cap says buy it for permanence and appreciation, not current yield. Verify the rental license first, quote insurance second, and only then admire the sunset. Explore other Florida markets for lower-entry coastal alternatives. STR revenue is lumpy, and the write-offs matter — our tax strategies for physician investors covers the short-term-rental loophole physicians ask about most.