DSCR Loans for Airbnb and Short-Term Rentals

The two ways a short-term rental is qualified

• On booking income. The program takes a trailing 12 months of platform or manager statements, sometimes applies a reduction for vacancy and fees, and uses the result as rent. This is the path that makes a strong short-term rental pencil, and the one that requires history — a property you just bought or just converted may not have it yet.
• On long-term market rent. The appraiser's rent analysis, as if the property were leased to a tenant. Simpler, available on more programs, and often much lower than what the property actually grosses on nightly stays.

What 12 months of history needs to show

• Gross bookings by month, from the platform's earnings export or the manager's owner statements — not a spreadsheet you built.
• Seasonality in context. A ski-town or beach property earns most of its year in a few months; 12 consecutive months show that pattern rather than a single strong month.
• Consistency with the bank account the payouts land in, which the lender may check.

Property and location questions

• Local licensing. Lenders increasingly ask whether short-term rental is permitted where the property sits. A city that has banned or capped it changes the answer.
• Condos and HOAs. The association's rules on short-term rental are a property-review item.
• Furnishings are not collateral. Value is the real estate; the furniture package does not add to it.
• Insurance. A short-term rental needs a policy written for it, not a standard landlord policy.

Buying a short-term rental with no history

On a purchase, or a property you are converting, there is no trailing 12 months. The usual path is to qualify on long-term market rent — which may need a larger down payment to reach the ratio — and, on some programs, refinance later on booking income once the history exists. Whether that two-step makes sense depends on the numbers and on the prepayment penalty on the first loan.

Common questions