South Carolina has 170 professional vacation rental managers split between two coasts with very different characters.
According to the VRMA member directory, South Carolina's professional vacation rental management layer is concentrated in two corridors: the Grand Strand (Myrtle Beach south to Pawleys Island) and the Lowcountry (Hilton Head through Charleston). Both are large and established, but they operate differently. This only covers VRMA members, not individual hosts or non-member companies.
The Grand Strand and the Lowcountry are both major markets
South Carolina's vacation rental industry does not have one center of gravity. The Grand Strand corridor from Myrtle Beach south to Pawleys Island has 54 VRMA member companies. The Lowcountry from Hilton Head through Charleston has 47. Both are among the most professionalized VR markets in the country. According to the VRMA directory, the Grand Strand leans toward larger legacy operators while the Lowcountry has a wider spread of company sizes. Median unit counts shown are for members who reported portfolio size.
Grand Strand
54 companiesLowcountry
47 companiesSC's top operators have been running for decades
The median VRMA member in South Carolina was founded in 2010, but the largest companies are far older. According to VRMA member data, Brittain Resorts has been managing vacation rentals in Myrtle Beach since 1943. Thomas Beach Vacations (1962), Dunes Beach Home Rentals (1964), and Dunes Realty (1967) have been running Grand Strand operations for over half a century. This depth of tenure shapes everything from cleaner networks to guest expectations.
The 2.1x mean/median skew (mean 151 units vs. median 74) is one of the lowest among major VR states. According to the VRMA data, this means South Carolina's professional layer is more evenly distributed than states like Florida, where a few very large operators pull the average far above the median. Here, the typical operator is genuinely mid-size.
The 15 largest VRMA members in South Carolina
Self-reported unit counts from VRMA membership profiles. Continuum Management Group leads at 1,400 units, but they are Charleston-based and relatively new (2017). The state's most tenured operators cluster in the Grand Strand, where Brittain Resorts (1943, 1,000 units) and Dunes Realty (1967, 600 units) have decades of operational history.
| # | Company | City | Units | PMS | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Continuum Management Group | Charleston | 1,400 | Streamline & Track | 2017 |
| 2 | Brittain Resorts | Myrtle Beach | 1,000 | Other | 1943 |
| 3 | Beach Vacations | Myrtle Beach | 738 | Other | 2004 |
| 4 | Dunes Realty | Garden City Beach | 600 | Streamline | 1967 |
| 5 | Big Fish Property Management | North Myrtle Beach | 550 | Other | 2013 |
| 6 | Thomas Beach Vacations | North Myrtle Beach | 462 | Streamline | 1962 |
| 7 | Condo-World | North Myrtle Beach | 450 | Proprietary | 1985 |
| 8 | The Vacation Company | Hilton Head Island | 400 | HomeAway | 1988 |
| 9 | Beach Properties of Hilton Head | Hilton Head Island | 400 | Other | 1995 |
| 10 | Wild Dunes Vacation Rentals | Isle of Palms | 334 | Other | |
| 11 | Island Realty | Isle of Palms | 300 | HomeAway | 1976 |
| 12 | host2coast | Hilton Head Island | 262 | Track | 2020 |
| 13 | Elliott Luxury Rentals | North Myrtle Beach | 250 | Other | 1959 |
| 14 | The Lachicotte Company | Pawleys Island | 210 | Barefoot | |
| 15 | Dunes Beach Home Rentals | Pawleys Island | 210 | 1964 |
SC operators skew larger than most states
Of the 82 South Carolina VRMA members who reported a unit count, the median is 74 units. That is roughly double the national VRMA median. According to the VRMA directory data, only 17% of reporting SC members manage 10 or fewer units, compared to roughly a third of Florida's. The 101-250 tier is the single largest bucket, accounting for 21 companies and 3,633 units. Five companies manage 500+ units, collectively responsible for 4,288 of the state's 12,367 total.
What PMS South Carolina operators run
Among the 79 South Carolina VRMA members who reported their PMS (excluding "Other"), HomeAway/Escapia is the most common platform at a combined 22.8% (13 HomeAway + 5 Escapia). According to the VRMA data, Streamline follows at 19.0% with 15 operators. The remaining platforms have smaller footholds: Track and Barefoot each claim 3 operators (3.8%), while Guesty has 2 (2.5%) and Hostaway has 1 (1.3%). The HomeAway/Escapia lead reflects the market's maturity, as many of these operators adopted the platform when it was the dominant choice for beach rental companies.
South Carolina is one of the most mature VR markets in the country
Brittain Resorts has been operating since 1943. Thomas Beach Vacations since 1962. Dunes Realty since 1967. The median founding year across all VRMA members is 2010, but the companies that set the standard in each corridor have been running for 30 to 80 years. For an operations manager, this means established competitive baselines, deep cleaning networks, and guest expectations shaped by decades of professional management.
The 74-unit median is one of the highest of any state. According to VRMA data, operators here tend to be larger and more professionalized than the national average. The 2.1x mean/median skew is among the lowest, meaning the typical VRMA member in South Carolina genuinely is mid-size, not a small operator dragged upward by a few giants.
This is VRMA membership data only. It captures the professionalized layer of each market. Individual hosts, non-member companies, and the broader South Carolina vacation rental landscape extend well beyond what's shown here.
Sources
- VRMA (Vacation Rental Management Association) Public Member Directory. Self-reported company data including unit counts, PMS, founding year, HQ city, and operating states. Compiled March 2026. 170 member companies headquartered in South Carolina. https://www.vrma.org/directories/vacation-rental-managers