THE VANHAUS JOURNAL · INVESTING

Short stays or a long lease? Run the full-year numbers

A Cape Town apartment needs more than a strong summer to make a strong investment.

VANHAUS Editorial · 20 October 2026 · Investor guide

Build two operating businesses on paper

A long lease and a short-stay apartment can use the same space while requiring very different levels of management. Compare annual net income, capital required and time commitment. For short stays, model each month separately instead of multiplying a peak-season nightly rate by 365.

Price the quiet months

Illustrative short-stay assumptions of R1,500 per occupied night and 15 occupied nights per month produce R270,000 annual gross revenue. At 10 nights per month that drops to R180,000, before platform charges, cleaning, utilities, management, replacement linen or furniture. Neither occupancy figure is a Cape Town forecast. The exercise shows why occupancy deserves as much attention as nightly rate.

Check the building before the spreadsheet

Obtain the scheme’s current governance documents and have the proposed use checked against the applicable rules and municipal requirements. CSOS provides information about community scheme governance and disputes; it does not replace a property-specific legal review. Also confirm insurance terms and any lender conditions relevant to the intended use.

Give long-term letting a fair comparison

Include vacancy between tenants, management, repairs and collection risk. A stable lease may offer a different balance of income certainty and operational effort. Compare that with short stays after all variable costs, rather than comparing a net long-term figure with a gross short-stay figure.

Choose for resilience

For a 2026 purchase, ask whether a workable long-term rental is available as a fallback. If the investment only works under exceptional short-stay occupancy, its margin for error may be too small for your objectives.