HOW LENDERS ACTUALLY SCORE A SHORT-TERM RENTAL.
Airbnb income counts. Just not the way you think.
DSCR loans qualify the property, not your tax returns. That's great news for short-term rental owners, right up until the underwriter values your income differently than your spreadsheet does. Here's how the scoring actually works, and the free guide that spells it out step by step.
FIVE THINGS UNDERWRITERS LOOK AT.
The income document decides the file
Some lenders take an AirDNA or Rentometer projection. Others want 12 months of actual operating history from your booking platform. Which one your file uses changes the qualifying number, sometimes by a wide margin.
The ratio is built on net, not gross
Gross nightly revenue is not what gets used. Underwriters back out platform fees, cleaning, and management, then compare what's left to principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and HOA.
Seasonality gets smoothed
A beach or ski market with three loud months and nine quiet ones is averaged across the full year. Peak-season screenshots don't move an underwriter.
Local STR rules are underwriting risk
If the city restricts or permits short-term rentals, that's a file-level question, not a formality. Check the ordinance before you write the offer.
Reserves and vesting shape the terms
STR files usually carry higher reserve expectations than a long-term rental. LLC vesting is generally fine on DSCR - the structure just has to be set up before docs.
- ✓ 1-8 units, purchase or cash-out refinance
- ✓ No tax returns, no W-2s, no personal DTI
- ✓ Close in an LLC when the structure is set up early
HOW LENDERS ACTUALLY score a short-term rental.
Airbnb and VRBO income doesn't get counted the way owners assume. This guide walks through exactly how a DSCR underwriter values a short-term rental - which income document they'll accept, how the ratio is built, and what pushes a marginal file over the line.
- ✓AirDNA vs. 12-month operating history - when each one is used
- ✓How the DSCR ratio is calculated on an STR (and what counts as expenses)
- ✓Reserves, LLC vesting, and the property-count question
- ✓The market rules that quietly kill STR files - and how to check first
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Start applicationJon Taw · Mortgage Broker & Advisor
NMLS #2607503 · Last updated May 2026