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DSCR
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Rachel F.

My property is on AirDNA showing $65,000/year gross but the long-term market rent is only $2,400/month. Can I qualify off the STR number?

Answer from Jon Howard (HCP): Yes, with caveats. We have two STR-DSCR programs: (1) 12-month trailing actuals from your Airbnb/Vrbo dashboard (we net out ~30% for platform fees, cleaning, vacancy, and management), or (2) AirDNA/Rabbu projection if the property has less than 12 months of history, discounted by 20-25%.

On your $65,000 gross example: after a 30% expense haircut, we use $45,500/year or about $3,791/month as qualifying rent — meaningfully higher than the $2,400 long-term comp. Expect slightly higher rate (about 25 bps) and 25% down minimum on STR-qualified DSCR.

Three things we need: (1) last 12 months of Airbnb/Vrbo earnings export, (2) proof the zoning/HOA/city permits allow short-term rental (this is where most deals die — always confirm legality first), (3) appraiser must complete Form 1007 AND a separate STR revenue comp. If the city has banned or capped STR permits, we fall back to long-term rent comps.

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Jon Howard
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Short answer: yes, short-term rental income can qualify, but the documentation bar is higher than long-term DSCR and not every lender allows it. Here is how it actually works:

  • 12-month operating history required on most programs. AirDNA projections alone are not enough — we need your actual Airbnb / VRBO / Stayz statements, or Schedule E if you have filed a year.
  • We gross down the revenue. The underwriter typically uses 75–80% of trailing 12-month gross to account for vacancy, cleaning, platform fees, and management. So $65,000 AirDNA does not become $65,000 at underwriting.
  • Some programs fall back to long-term market rent if STR docs are thin. Your $2,400/month ($28,800/yr) is the floor if STR income disqualifies.
  • New builds or no-history properties — a few lenders accept AirDNA Rentalizer with a 20% haircut, but price accordingly.

The gap between $65k gross and $28.8k long-term is big enough that it is worth fighting for the STR qualification if you have the operating history.

Practical next step: Pull your last 12 months of Airbnb / VRBO payout statements (CSV export works), total them, and multiply by 0.75. That is the number the underwriter will likely use. If it still supports a 1.00+ DSCR you are in good shape.

Happy to run your specific numbers — call 970-457-9107 or email jon@homesteadcapitalpartners.com.

NMLS #2587985 · Licensed Colorado · For educational purposes — not a commitment to lend.

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Riley O'Sullivan
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If anyone wants to see real STR-vs-LTR comp work in action, I did a short explainer on our YouTube walking through the 75-80% haircut Jon mentioned with a sample Airbnb statement. The gap between AirDNA's gross number and what actually qualifies surprises most folks. One add — ask your lender up front whether they count the 1099-K gross or the net payout as the baseline. I've seen the same property qualify at very different numbers across lenders because of that one definitional choice. Pull the statements before you apply, not after.

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Robert A.
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I went through this exact exercise last year on a property in Sedona. AirDNA said $72k gross, long-term comps were about $2,200/month ($26,400). Huge gap.

Jon's 75-80% haircut is real — my lender used 72% of my trailing 12 months Airbnb payouts. I had a clean 14-month history (I'd owned it just over a year), exported the CSV from Airbnb + VRBO, added them up, handed the underwriter the statements plus the 1099-K from Airbnb. Zero pushback. Ended up qualifying at roughly $52k qualifying income, which still penciled way better than the $26k long-term floor.

What bit me: my property manager's cleaning fees and platform fees came out of payouts before they hit my account. Some lenders add those back as "gross revenue," some don't. Ask upfront which definition they're using, because on a property doing $70k gross it can swing $8-10k in qualifying income.

Also — zoning. My HOA was fine but the city had just put a 30-day minimum rule through, which Airbnb still let me list under but which technically made my short-term income nonconforming. Title caught it at the end. Check your local STR rules before you fall in love with the numbers.

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