If you close on a house inside Clemson city limits this month and plan to rent it for the South Carolina game on November 28, how many rental days does the house have left this year? The answer depends on the seller's year, not yours.
The City of Clemson limits short-term rentals to 25 rental days per dwelling per calendar year. The city code ties that allowance to the house, not to the owner. Registrations can't be transferred. When a house changes hands, the new owner registers again and pays the fee again, and the city code says a change in ownership "does not increase the number of rental days" the dwelling can be rented that year. A buyer who closes in November takes over a 2026 count the seller has been using since January.
The Count Belongs to the Dwelling
Clemson's code defines a short-term residential rental as a legally permitted accessory use of a dwelling for "no more than 25 rental days per calendar year." It then closes the obvious workaround:
"If any part of a dwelling is rented on a rental day, that day counts towards the 25-day cap for the entire dwelling. In other words, the 25-day rental cap is calculated per dwelling, rather than per bedroom or per rental unit within a dwelling."
Renting a basement suite to one party and a spare bedroom to another on the same Saturday still uses one day of the house's allowance. Condos and townhouses work differently. In buildings where separate owners hold separate units, each unit gets its own 25 days. For a buyer choosing between a detached house and a condo near campus, that difference shows up in the numbers.
The code also defines a "rental day" as any calendar day rented for any part of the period from 12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Unused hours can't be added together to make extra days. So a guest who checks out at 10 a.m. Sunday has still used Sunday.
What Seven Home Saturdays Use
Clemson's 2026 schedule has seven home games at Memorial Stadium. Here is what each weekend uses under the city's definition of a rental day:
| 2026 home game | Opponent | Friday-to-Sunday stay | Thursday-to-Sunday stay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Sept. 12 | Georgia Southern | 3 days | 4 days |
| Sat., Sept. 19 | North Carolina | 3 days | 4 days |
| Sat., Oct. 3 | Miami | 3 days | 4 days |
| Sat., Oct. 17 | Charleston Southern | 3 days | 4 days |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Virginia Tech | 3 days | 4 days |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Georgia Tech | 3 days | 4 days |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | South Carolina | 3 days | 4 days |
| Season total | 21 days | 28 days |
With Friday arrivals and Sunday checkouts, a full season of home games uses 21 of the 25 days. That leaves four days for graduation, a spring game, or any other weekend in the year. If guests arrive Thursday, the season alone goes past the cap.
The demand behind these rentals is real. WYFF reported in November 2019 that game-weekend nightly rates in Clemson averaged $363 that year, 43% higher than other weekends. Those are 2019 figures, but they show the pattern. Most of a Clemson rental's income comes from seven Saturdays a year, and the 25-day cap has to cover all of them.
A November Closing Lands in the Seller's Year
Taken together, the rules give a buyer three things to check before relying on 2026 rental income.
First, the seller already reports these numbers to the city. Owners have to give the city the number of days each dwelling was rented during the previous calendar year when they register. If the seller rented the house for every home game through October, the house may have only a few days left this year, and selling it doesn't add any.
Second, registration has to be done again. Under the code, every legal owner signs the city's registration form and pays $125 per dwelling. The fee is the same no matter when in the year you register, and it is never prorated or refunded. The registration year runs from April 15 to April 14. A buyer who registers in November pays the full $125, and that registration expires the following April 14.
Third, the house has to pass inspection before anyone rents it. The code requires the owner to arrange an on-site city inspection before the dwelling is used as a short-term rental, and it sets the annual inspection window from January 1 to April 14. The checklist is specific. It includes:
- 9-1-1 numbers at least three inches tall and visible from the street
- Guardrails at least 36 inches high on decks more than 30 inches above grade, with gaps no wider than four inches
- A smoke detector in every bedroom and adjoining hallway
- A fully charged 2.5-pound ABC fire extinguisher
- An evacuation plan posted on every sleeping-room door
- A carbon monoxide detector wherever there is an attached garage or gas appliances
That is why house hunting for a game-weekend rental goes better with this checklist in hand. A deck railing with wide picket gaps, or a garage with no CO detector, becomes a repair to make before the inspection.
A Practical Calendar for a Buyer Closing Now
Laid out in order, the rules give a buyer who closes this fall a clear sequence:
- At contract: Ask the seller how many rental days the house has used in 2026, and whether it is currently registered.
- Before any rental: Register the house in your name, pay the $125 fee, and pass the city inspection. Any stay for the rest of 2026 draws on whatever days the seller left.
- January 1: The calendar year starts over, and the house has its full 25 rental days for 2027.
- January 1 to April 14: This is the city's annual inspection window. If the house fails, fix the items and schedule a reinspection.
- April 14: Every short-term rental registration expires, and the next registration year begins April 15.
- September: The football season uses most of the year's allowance.
Missing the paperwork has a cost. For a home that has been in the program or has been notified of it, the code sets a $75 late fee for each month the home is found renting without a valid permit, and municipal court summonses start after June 30.
Whether You Live There Changes Who Can Stay
The code sets occupancy two different ways. If the owner lives in the home as a primary residence, rental occupancy is two people per bedroom plus two more, with a maximum of ten. If the owner does not live there, the zoning's limit on unrelated occupants applies first, and the total number of people is then also capped at two per bedroom plus two.
For an out-of-town buyer, the non-owner-occupied rules also require naming a person in charge who lives or keeps an office within 50 miles of the city and can act for the owner. The city must be told in writing within 14 days if that person changes. On every rental day, a city-issued sign or decal has to be visible from the street.
Short-term rentals appear as a conditional use, not a by-right use, across the residential districts in the city's zoning table, including R-20, R-12 and the RM districts.
The Driveway Has Its Own Rules
Parking is part of game weekend too. Many buyers picture renting the house and selling parking spaces on the lawn. For short-term rental guests, the code requires all parking to be on site and on improved surfaces. Grass, dirt, mulch and wooded areas aren't allowed during rentals, even if the property is also registered in the city's game-day parking program. A long paved driveway adds value here because the lawn can't serve as overflow parking.
Game-day parking is a separate program under its own section of the city code. Owners who charge for parking at home games register each property in advance, the registration year runs from May 1 to April 30, and they also need an annual city business license unless a nonprofit exception applies. In residential areas, game-day parking can run from 7 a.m. on the event day until 9 a.m. the next day, and cars can't park on streets or sidewalks.
The city hears complaints about game-day parking. After residents raised parking concerns at a September 2025 council meeting, City Administrator Andy Blondeau told WYFF that the feedback had gone to Planning and Development and that "several proposed projects" could add designated Uber pickup and drop-off locations and more public parking nearby. Those are infrastructure projects, not changes to the rental or parking rules. The short-term rental rules described here follow the city's Code of Ordinances, most recently amended by Ordinance CC-2023-09, effective June 20, 2023.
The City Doesn't Collect the Taxes
Clemson's code puts all sales, accommodations and income taxes on owners, operators and tenants, and says the city "does not collect or accept such taxes." The state and county pages spell out some of the obligations that apply:
- State: The South Carolina Department of Revenue generally applies 5% sales tax and 2% state accommodations tax, plus any local sales tax, to stays under 90 consecutive days. Owners who book guests directly generally need a Retail License. When an online travel company books the stay and takes payment, it remits the state accommodations tax.
- Pickens County: Pickens County requires short-term rental providers to register, collect its local accommodations fee and remit it by the 20th of the month. It charges a 5% late penalty, and using a property manager doesn't relieve the owner of responsibility.
- Oconee County: Oconee County requires registration and monthly remittance by the 20th, at 3% in unincorporated areas and 1.5% inside a municipality that also collects accommodations tax.
A Clemson mailing address doesn't always mean a house is inside city limits. The 25-day cap, the inspection and the decal rule apply only within the city, while county tax registration applies either way. The city's GIS mapping page links to its own data portal and to the Pickens, Oconee and Anderson county GIS sites, which is a good place to start.
This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Please confirm your own situation with the city, the county, and a qualified attorney or tax professional before you count on rental income.
Quick Answers
Does the 25-day cap reset when I buy the house? No. The code says a change of ownership doesn't increase the number of rental days for that calendar year. The count resets on January 1.
Can I rent two bedrooms to two groups on the same weekend? Each day either group stays counts once against the whole dwelling's 25 days. Separately owned condo or townhouse units each have their own count.
Does registering for game-day parking let guests park on the lawn? No. Short-term rental guests must park on improved surfaces even when the property is in the game-day parking program.
If you're weighing a house near campus with football weekends in mind, I can help you ask the seller about the rental-day count early, check the property against the city's inspection list before you make an offer, and line up the timing around the January-to-April inspection window. Philip Kalchthaler is here when you're ready to talk it through. Reach Out Today.
