Seasonal rent and the twelve-month number
A furnished three-bedroom in Wellington during the winter equestrian season, a condo on South Ocean Boulevard from January to April, a Delray cottage east of the Intracoastal — these lease at a multiple of their summer rent, and owners often quote the in-season figure. A DSCR program does not qualify on it. The appraiser's rent schedule annualizes: it looks at twelve-month comparable leases, or at seasonal plus off-season comparables combined, and produces one monthly figure. If the property is run as a seasonal rental with a documented history, some programs will consider the trailing twelve months of actual receipts; others use market rent only. Ask which before the ratio is built on the season.
Wellington, the equestrian season and short-term rules
Wellington's rental market peaks from January through March, when the equestrian festival fills every furnished house and barn-apartment within a few miles of the showgrounds. Those are typically leases of a month or more rather than nightly stays, which keeps them outside the vacation-rental definition, but anything rented under thirty days more than three times a year needs the state DBPR license and the county's tourist-tax registration. The village adopted its rental rules after 2011, so it may regulate but not prohibit. A lender that counts booking income will want that paperwork; a lender that uses market rent will use the appraiser's twelve-month figure, and in Wellington that figure is healthy because the off-season rent is not the problem it is on the beach.
Country-club and gated communities: check the declaration first
A large share of Boca Raton's and Palm Beach Gardens' housing sits inside associations — Boca West, Broken Sound, Woodfield, Mizner, Frenchman's, PGA National, BallenIsles — and many of them cap the number of rentals, set minimum lease terms of a year, or require association approval of each tenant. Mandatory club membership adds a monthly figure the lender treats like dues. None of this stops a DSCR loan; all of it changes the rent the property can actually earn and the payment it has to cover. Read the declaration before the contract, not after the appraisal.
West Palm Beach's new tenant base
The financial firms that have moved into downtown West Palm Beach since 2020 brought a tenant pool that did not exist before: year-round, well-paid, and renting in the new towers and the townhome and single-family blocks of Flamingo Park, El Cid, Grandview Heights and Northwood. Twelve-month leases at strong rents make these the cleanest DSCR files in the county. The building review still applies to the towers, and roof age and flood zone still drive the insurance on the older bungalows — but the seasonality question that complicates the island and the beach largely disappears.
Common questions
Can a seasonal rental in Palm Beach County qualify for a DSCR loan?
Yes, on an annualized rent. The appraiser produces a twelve-month market figure; some programs also consider a documented trailing-twelve-month history. The in-season monthly rate alone is not the number.
Do club dues or HOA fees count against the ratio?
Yes. Association dues and mandatory club fees are part of the payment the rent is measured against. Rental caps and minimum lease terms in the declaration matter just as much.
Can I get a DSCR loan on a Wellington equestrian rental?
Yes. Month-plus seasonal leases are common and the annualized rent is typically strong. Rentals under thirty days need the state vacation-rental license and tax registration.
Do I need tax returns?
No. The property's rent is the income on a DSCR loan.