Occupancy Limits: Cary vs Raleigh

Does Cary limit how many guests my Airbnb can host?

No. The Town of Cary has not adopted a short-term rental ordinance and does not impose a per-bedroom or per-property guest cap. Overnight occupancy is governed by the state building code sleeping-room minimums and by any HOA covenants on your lot, and Cary's noise and nuisance rules still apply to all guests.

Why doesn't Cary just require an STR registration with an occupancy limit?

N.C. Gen. Stat. 160D-1207(c) prevents North Carolina cities from requiring an owner to register a residential rental or to enroll in a program as a condition of receiving a certificate of occupancy, outside of narrow chronic-violator situations. After Schroeder v. City of Wilmington, that provision has been read to preempt local STR registration regimes.

Can I list a finished basement room as a bedroom on Airbnb?

Only if it has a code-compliant emergency egress window and meets the other minimum dimensions of 70 square feet and adequate ceiling height. Otherwise it does not count as a bedroom for occupancy purposes, even if you put a bed in it.

Are daytime-only guests counted?

Daytime visitors are not counted toward the overnight cap but are controlled indirectly through the parking rules and the city's special-event permitting. Many hosts simply prohibit parties in their house rules to avoid complaint-driven enforcement.

Can a 5-bedroom Brier Creek home host 15 guests?

Under the typical 2-plus-2 formula, 12 guests is the default limit (5 bedrooms x 2 = 10, plus 2 for the living area). Fifteen guests would usually require an explicit higher cap in the zoning permit and demonstration of adequate parking and sewer capacity.