A boutique St. Augustine vacation rental agency. Local since 1998.
First Choice Florida Vacation Rentals is a boutique vacation rental agency based in St. Augustine, Florida. We manage roughly 80 short-term rental properties across St. Augustine Beach, Vilano Beach, Crescent Beach, Butler Beach, Summer Haven, and the St. Augustine Historic District.
Boutique means selective inventory, local relationships, and direct attention from people who know the properties — not a national booking platform and not a faceless management chain. We answer the phone ourselves, on A1A across from Publix. When a guest calls at 2 p.m. asking which beach is best for kids, the person who picks up has been here for decades and knows the answer.
When a guest calls at 11 p.m. because the AC stopped working, the same is true. Our 24-hour emergency line is answered by local staff, not an answering service in another state and not a phone menu. It’s the kind of support that exists because we live here and we run a small enough operation to actually provide it.
Who we are
First Choice Florida was formed in 2013, spun off from a predecessor company that closed without warning and left owners and guests stranded. The team behind FCF has been managing vacation rentals in St. Augustine since 1998 — through multiple market cycles, hurricanes, the rise of Airbnb and VRBO, and every change St. Johns County has thrown at the short-term rental industry.
We come from the older local St. Augustine rental world that existed before the industry was platformized. Some companies from that ecosystem scaled into national booking machines. We took a different road and stayed local, selective, and operationally hands-on. That’s the company you’re calling when you call us.
The company is co-owned by Marty Kirkley and Mitch Keady. Marty leads the company and handles both real estate and rental sides; Mitch co-owns and runs the rental operation day-to-day. Our broker of record is Susan Binninger, owner of Ocean Breeze Real Estate. Florida requires a licensed broker to oversee property management — Susan is ours, and Ocean Breeze is our long-standing real estate partner for sales and long-term rentals.
Why our properties book
Owners often ask why some homes on our roster see higher occupancy than comparable properties on the market. The honest answer: Marty is meticulous about the properties he owns and renovates personally. Before First Choice Florida, he ran Eden Home Decor — and that eye for design carries into every renovation. In 2005, he was a sponsor on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition for the Harvey family build in Hastings, Florida, just down the road from St. Augustine.
That’s the standard he holds his own properties to, and the standard he brings when advising owners we manage. Spend the money to make it nice. Guests notice. They book, they leave good reviews, they come back.
We don’t pretend that’s a secret formula. We just do the work.
What we do
- Short-term vacation rental management across St. Johns County
- Direct booking through firstchoiceflorida.com (no OTA commission for guests who book direct)
- Channel management on Airbnb, VRBO, and Google Vacation Rentals
- In-house housekeeping coordination, maintenance, and guest support
- Renovation and design consultation for owners preparing a property for the rental market
- Long-term rentals and real estate sales through our partner Ocean Breeze Real Estate
How to reach us
Office: 1017 A1A Beach Blvd, St. Augustine, FL 32080 (across from Publix)
Phone: 904-429-7373 (office Mon–Fri 9–5; emergency line answered after hours)
Email: info@firstchoiceflorida.com
If you own a vacation rental property in St. Johns County and want to know what we’d do with it, give us a call or request a free property evaluation.
If you’re a guest planning a trip and you have a question that isn’t answered on a property listing, call us. We’ll answer.