Investment Property Loans in Little Rock, AR

Little Rock's June 20, 2023 ordinance caps short-term rentals at 500 at any one time citywide; a May 2026 staff report counted about 145 to 150 approved STR-1 and STR-2 rentals.

For investors: With roughly 350 slots still open, the cap is not yet the binding constraint in Little Rock; zoning approval is. Treat an existing approved short-term rental as worth more than an unapproved look-alike, and verify its status with Planning and Development.

Source: City of Little Rock, Board of Directors staff report Z-10274, May 2026

An owner-occupied STR-1 in Little Rock needs a Planning Commission special use permit, then an annual business license and an inspection fee of $100 per bedroom, capped at $500.

For investors: STR-1 status also covers a unit within 1,500 feet of the owner's own home, so a local investor may run a house down the street through the lighter special use permit path, but the code requires that owner to be a natural person, not an LLC.

Source: Little Rock Code, Sec. 36-601 (Municode), Oct 2026

Every Little Rock short-term rental must carry at least $1 million per-occurrence liability coverage, bans weddings and parties, allows only one booking party at a time, and needs certified smoke alarms and a 5-pound extinguisher.

For investors: Quote a policy that meets the $1 million liability floor and covers short-term use before you close, since a basic landlord form may not. Add smoke alarms, egress fixes and the extinguisher to the furnishing budget.

Source: Little Rock Code, Sec. 36-603, development standards (Municode), Oct 2026

Little Rock requires a short-term rental's responsible party to be reachable 24 hours a day and to answer city complaints within 60 minutes; missing that window is a code violation.

For investors: Remote Little Rock investors need a local manager or co-host who can respond in person, since the 60-minute clock starts when the city calls. The contact must also go to adjacent neighbors and be posted by the front door with an exit diagram.

Source: Little Rock Code, Sec. 36-602 (Municode), Oct 2026

Little Rock levies a 4% advertising and promotion tax on lodging receipts, naming houses and apartments, for stays under 30 days; each location needs an A&P permit from the commission before operating.

For investors: Monthly returns are due by the 20th. Stays of 30 days or more fall outside both this levy and the zoning code's 29-day short-term rental definition, which makes furnished mid-term leases near the UAMS campus a lighter-regulation option.

Source: Little Rock Code, Secs. 17-96 and 17-98.3 (Municode), Oct 2026

Under Little Rock's zoning code, a non-owner-occupied STR-2 is allowed only where the Board of Directors has approved a planned zoning district, and it then needs an annual business license and a $500 inspection fee.

For investors: An investor's nightly rental in Little Rock is an STR-2, so each one needs its own planned zoning district, with Planning Commission review, notice to owners within 300 feet and a Board of Directors vote. The first-year inspection fee is waived for a rehabbed unsafe or vacant-list property.

Source: Little Rock Code, Sec. 36-601 (Municode), Oct 2026

Little Rock's Rental Inspection Program makes it unlawful to rent a unit without a city certificate of compliance, and inspects a random 20% of registered rental units each year.

For investors: A sale can bring an inspector, because the code makes a unit subject to an extra inspection whenever title transfers. Budget for repairs found after closing: life-safety items must be fixed within seven days and others within 30, extendable to 60 in some cases.

Source: Little Rock Code, Secs. 8-579 and 8-581 (Municode), Oct 2026

Little Rock makes out-of-state rental owners name an agent based in Pulaski County, and since 2024 out-of-town owners of buildings with three or more units must keep a Little Rock representative.

For investors: An out-of-state DSCR buyer of a Little Rock duplex must have a Pulaski County agent who can grant inspectors access within 24 hours for life-safety issues. The representative for a triplex or larger is disclosed each year at business license renewal.

Source: Little Rock Code, Secs. 8-579(c) and 8-588 (Municode), Oct 2026

Little Rock's business license schedule charges rental owners $36 a year for fewer than four units, or a $206 base plus $7 per dwelling unit for larger holdings, with each duplex side counted.

For investors: Owning a fourth Little Rock unit moves you from $36 to about $234 a year. The owner owes the per-unit fee even if a manager pays it, and the code bars renting any unit while those fees are unpaid.

Source: Little Rock Code, Chapter 17, Article II, business license schedule (Municode), Oct 2026

The city's undated tax sheet puts the millage at 70.50 for Little Rock School District residents, with 46.4 mills for schools, applied to 20% of appraised value, an effective rate near 1.41%.

For investors: The 70.50 figure applies within the Little Rock School District, and schools make up about two-thirds of it, so a parcel in another district can differ. Pull the Pulaski County bill for the exact parcel; at the sheet's rate, $200,000 of value owes about $2,820.

Source: City of Little Rock, Welcome to Little Rock tax rates, Oct 2026

The March 31, 2023 EF3 tornado, peaking near 165 mph, ran 34.4 miles from southwest Little Rock through North Little Rock and Sherwood, wrecking apartments off Chenal Parkway and homes west of North Shackleford Road.

For investors: The survey put the worst residential damage at apartment buildings off Napa Valley Drive, so multifamily here carries real wind exposure. Confirm the wind or hail deductible and roof age on any Little Rock rental, and hold reserves to match.

Source: National Weather Service Little Rock, damage survey update 5, Apr 2023

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock runs five colleges and a graduate school, plus a 434-bed teaching hospital with a Level 1 Trauma Center.

For investors: Medical students, residents, nurses and traveling clinicians create year-round demand for rentals near the campus, including furnished stays of 30 days or more that sit outside Little Rock's short-term rental zoning. Match lease terms to rotation lengths to cut vacancy.

Source: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, About UAMS, Oct 2026