Buy a renovated storefront apartment a block off the Carthage square, the kind with exposed brick and a booking calendar already filling up through spring, and what exactly have you purchased? The building, certainly. The location, yes. But the right to keep renting it out the way the seller has been running it? That part doesn't come with the keys.
Carthage adopted a new short-term rental ordinance this year, Council Bill 26-35, which the city added to its code of ordinances under Section 25-251. It doesn't ban Airbnb or Vrbo listings inside city limits. It does something a lot of prospective buyers will miss until they're already under contract: it ties the right to operate a short-term rental to the person holding the deed at that moment, not to the property itself.
What the Ordinance Actually Does
The city's own summary of the change is straightforward. Short-term rentals, defined as lodging stays under 30 consecutive days, are now a designated special use under Carthage zoning. To operate legally, a property owner needs a Special Use Permit, a passing Certificate of Occupancy inspection, and an active City of Carthage business license.
None of that is unusual by itself. Cities across Missouri have been building similar frameworks as short-term rental activity has grown, since the state doesn't set one uniform rule and leaves it to each municipality. What makes Carthage's version worth reading closely if you're weighing a purchase is a single line in the city's notice: permits and certificates must be renewed upon a change of ownership.
The Permit Doesn't Follow the Deed
That renewal requirement is the whole story for a buyer.
An existing short-term rental in Carthage, one with a track record of reviews, a decent occupancy rate, and a seller who can show you a year of statements, is not a turnkey income property under this ordinance. The seller's permit belongs to the seller. When the sale closes, that authorization to operate ends with them. The new owner starts the same process a first-time host would: apply for the Special Use Permit, schedule and pass the Certificate of Occupancy inspection, and secure a business license, all before a single guest can legally check in under the new ownership.
Here's what that looks like laid out plainly.
| At Closing | Transfers to New Owner | Starts Over With New Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Deed and title | Yes | |
| Existing furniture, fixtures | Yes | |
| Reviews and platform history on Airbnb or Vrbo | Yes (tied to the listing account) | |
| Special Use Permit | Yes | |
| Certificate of Occupancy for STR use | Yes | |
| City business license | Yes |
The reviews and booking history can stay attached to a listing account if a buyer negotiates that transfer with the seller directly, since that's a platform relationship rather than a city one. The legal right to operate the property as a short-term rental is a different matter entirely, and it resets at closing every time.
What This Means Before You Write an Offer
If you're underwriting a Carthage short-term rental purchase on trailing twelve months of revenue, treat that number as a description of what the property has produced under someone else's permit, not a guarantee of what it will produce under yours.
A few practical steps follow from that.
Ask the seller for their current Special Use Permit and Certificate of Occupancy before you go under contract, and confirm the property actually holds valid documentation rather than assuming an active listing means it's compliant. Build permit approval time into your closing timeline rather than assuming you can flip the switch the day you take possession. And if your financing or your investment plan depends on rental income starting immediately after closing, get clarity from the city on how long a new application typically takes to process before you commit to that timeline in writing.
None of this makes a Carthage short-term rental a bad investment. It means the due diligence period now includes a city hall step that didn't carry the same weight before this ordinance took effect.
Which Properties This Touches
The ordinance applies inside Carthage city limits, which covers the historic square, the surrounding residential blocks, and the stretch of Route 66 that runs through town. That's also where most of the area's existing short-term rental inventory sits: restored storefront studios within walking distance of the square's antique shops and restaurants, and older farmhouses along the Route 66 corridor marketed for their historic character.
Webb City sits just outside Carthage and answers to its own city government, which means a short-term rental there operates under whatever rules Webb City has set, not Carthage's. If you're comparing a property inside Carthage to one a few miles away, don't assume the same permitting process applies. Confirm which municipality actually holds jurisdiction over the address before you compare the two on equal footing.
The Permit Can Also Be Taken Away
The ordinance gives the City Council authority to revoke a Special Use Permit if a property's short-term rental use becomes detrimental to the surrounding neighborhood, and it sets escalating fines for violations, with each day of noncompliant operation treated as a separate offense.
That's a second layer worth building into any investment plan beyond simply getting the initial permit issued. A permit that's valid at closing isn't guaranteed to stay that way if complaints accumulate. Anyone buying with short-term rental income in mind should factor in what good-neighbor operation looks like on their specific block, not just what the zoning code technically allows.
Missouri also requires short-term rental hosts statewide to collect and remit the 4.225 percent state sales tax on bookings, a cost that sits on top of whatever the Carthage permitting and licensing fees add up to. Anyone modeling returns on a Carthage short-term rental should have both the compliance costs and the tax obligation in the same spreadsheet before making an offer.
A Few Questions We Hear Often
Does the Special Use Permit expire, or is it good as long as I own the property? The ordinance ties renewal to ownership changes specifically. Within a single ownership period, check with the city on standard renewal terms, since the public notice focuses on what happens at a sale rather than annual renewal cycles.
Can I close on a short-term rental and start hosting the same week? Not under this ordinance. You'll need your own Special Use Permit and a passing Certificate of Occupancy inspection first, which means building processing time into your closing plan rather than assuming an immediate handoff.
Does this ordinance mean Carthage is trying to phase out short-term rentals? The city's own language frames the goal as making sure short-term rentals operate safely and in a manner consistent with residential neighborhoods, not eliminating the use. It's a permitting framework, not a ban.
What happens to a property's online reviews when it changes hands? Reviews live with the platform account, so a buyer and seller can negotiate transferring that account separately from the closing itself. That's a conversation worth having directly with the seller before you sign anything.
If you're weighing a short-term rental purchase in Carthage, or trying to figure out whether a listing you've found still holds a valid permit under this new framework, Show-Me Real Estate can walk through the specific property with you before you write an offer. Schedule a free consultation and we'll help you sort out what actually transfers at closing and what you'll need to apply for yourself.
