The Quick Read: Usually yes, on a purchase, when the program accepts a market projection or an appraiser’s short-term rental analysis in place of booking records, because a DSCR loan is reviewed primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines. The catch is that the program has to accept STR income at all, and the property has to be legally usable as a short-term rental.
- Purchases with no booking record can run on a projection or an appraiser’s STR analysis.
- Refinances lean on actual hosting history instead.
- Some programs count only long-term rent and ignore Airbnb income entirely.
- STR purchase leverage tops out at 75% LTV, with a 640 credit score minimum and a 1.00 coverage floor.
- Clearing 1.00 does not mean the property makes money.
Short-term rental rules can vary by city, county, HOA, and property type, so investors should confirm local rules before relying on projected rental income.
Short-Term Rental Calculator
Run the STR numbers in your market
Rate source: Freddie Mac 30-yr average via FRED® — Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis · effective Oct 15, 2026
Prefilled with starting assumptions — enter your nightly rate, occupancy, taxes, and insurance for a more accurate picture.
Short-term rental income is documented with a 12-month history or a market data report. Program parameters update from Lendmire’s centralized guideline source.
As of Oct 15, 2026 · General Freddie Mac market benchmark, not a Lendmire loan offer. Nightly rate, occupancy, taxes, and insurance are editable estimates. Qualifying income for short-term rentals varies by program — some use appraisal market rent, others use documented STR history or projections — and is confirmed in underwriting. Not a Loan Estimate, approval, or commitment to lend. Program availability and eligibility are subject to lender guidelines, credit approval, property review, and underwriting.
What “No History” Actually Means
Two different things get called history, and mixing them up causes most of the confusion on these files. Property history is the booking record of the specific house. Borrower experience is whether the buyer has hosted before.
A first-time buyer buying a house that has never been an Airbnb has no property history. That is the normal case on a purchase, and the income gets set by a projection or an appraisal-based analysis. Across the wholesale network, most programs treat a purchase this way.
Borrower experience is the separate question. STR programs commonly expect about 12 months of landlord or host experience. That expectation is not the same as booking records on the subject property, and it is why guidance on this topic looks contradictory. Some lenders in the network will weigh a first-timer’s file against that expectation through compensating factors, and some will not. Ask each lender which of the two it means before you order anything.
Lendmire’s piece How a First-Time STR Buyer’s Airbnb Income Is Sized for DSCR covers the sizing side in more detail.
Short Answer by Loan Type
| Loan type | Income that counts | Projection accepted? | First-timer fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conventional | Documented history, leases | Rarely | Weak |
| DSCR (STR program) | Projection or STR analysis | Yes, on purchases | Strong |
| DSCR (long-term rent only) | Appraiser’s rent schedule | No STR income | Fallback |
| Bank-statement loan | Deposit history | No | Poor, no deposits yet |
Conventional underwriting is built around documented income, and agency rules for subject-property rental income center on a rent schedule and leases, as the Fannie Mae Selling Guide lays out. That is context, not a DSCR rule. DSCR loans are non-agency business-purpose products. They are reviewed differently from a standard owner-occupied mortgage.
Where the Income Number Comes From
On a no-history purchase, the income figure comes from one of three places. Which one applies depends on the program.
1. An appraiser’s STR analysis. The appraiser estimates what the property could earn as a short-term rental.
2. A third-party market projection. A report built from comparable listings, occupancy, and nightly rates in the area.
3. The long-term rent schedule. The appraisal’s standard rent estimate, used when the program won’t count STR income or the projection comes in weak.
The third one is the trap. DSCR appraisals typically include a Form 1007 rent survey, which estimates rent on a traditional 12-month lease. Fannie Mae’s appraiser guidance says that form was not designed for short-term rentals, that appraisers must use monthly-lease comparables, and that multiplying a nightly rate by 30 is not acceptable. McKissock’s appraisal education adds that appraisers value the real property only, not the furnishings or the business income, and that the lender decides how income is treated.
Put plainly: a program that defaults to the 1007 can understate what a house earns on Airbnb. The same house can clear coverage on an STR analysis and miss on the long-term rent figure.
The question to ask each lender: Does this program use the 1007, an STR analysis, a market projection, or a combination, and which figure controls if they disagree?
The Coverage Test, Step by Step
DSCR is monthly qualifying income divided by monthly PITIA: principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and any association dues. Nothing else goes in the denominator.
The numerator is the part that moves. Many programs trim a projection before running the ratio, so gross projected revenue is not the number that counts. How much gets trimmed varies by lender, and some experienced hosts can negotiate the trim down. Treat any haircut as program-specific and ask for it in writing.
Run the numbers this way, with the inputs treated as modeled assumptions rather than market facts. Take a house where the projection, after the lender’s trim, covers the full monthly obligation about 1.25 times. That clears a 1.00 floor with room to spare. Now take the same house where the trimmed projection covers it about 1.02 times. That is a thin pass. One higher insurance quote or a slightly lower appraised STR figure pushes it under. And the same house on the long-term rent schedule alone might sit near 0.80.
| Same property, three income methods | Coverage read | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Trimmed STR projection, strong | About 1.25x | Clears the 1.00 floor |
| Trimmed STR projection, thin | About 1.02x | Clears, no cushion |
| Long-term rent schedule only | About 0.80x | Below 1.00 |
Calculation method also differs by lender. Some run gross revenue over PITIA, others run net operating income. The same property can look materially stronger under the first method than the second.
Here is the structure on the sub-1.00 line. For short-term rentals, the network’s STR purchase floor is 1.00. A separate select-lender path takes coverage below 1.00 on some files, with leverage and terms adjusted. That is a different program, not a lower floor on the same one, and the first-timer should expect tighter terms on it.
Qualifying Is Not Cash Flowing
A 1.00 ratio means rent covers the payment. That is all it means. Repairs, vacancy, management fees, utilities, cleaning turns, furnishing replacement, and capital expenses all sit outside the calculation. Short-term rentals carry heavier operating costs than a long-term lease, which is the reason lenders trim projected income at all. Lendmire’s own piece How to Choose DSCR or Conventional for Your First Airbnb makes the same point about coverage and profit.
Run a second test next to the lender’s. Take your own expected occupancy and nightly rate, subtract the full operating stack, and see what’s left. If the property only works when occupancy runs high all year, the loan can qualify and the investment can still lose money. That is a judgment about the deal, not the file.
What the Leverage and Credit Picture Looks Like
On the strongest files, STR purchase leverage reaches 75% LTV, which means about 25% down. Refinance and cash-out on a short-term rental run up to 70% LTV. Both are ceilings for the best files, not entitlements. Credit minimums for STR sit around 640, and loan sizes run up to $3,000,000 on standard programs, subject to lender guidelines.
A larger down payment lowers the monthly obligation and can lift the ratio. It does not erase leverage caps, credit floors, reserve rules, or property eligibility. Reserves vary by lender, leverage, loan size, and transaction type, commonly around 6 months of PITIA, with higher requirements on larger balances. The strongest files clear both tests: enough equity and enough rental coverage.
Manufactured homes, log homes, and barndominiums are not offered in the network’s DSCR programs, so a cabin-style STR in one of those forms is off the table. Multi-unit and seasonal-market properties can draw tighter review from some lenders.
Documents for a Purchase With No History
Expect the file to look like a standard DSCR purchase, with the STR income evidence layered on top.
- Entity documents if the property will be held in an LLC, subject to lender program eligibility.
- Credit report and proof of the borrower’s experience, where the program asks for it.
- Bank statements showing reserves and the down payment.
- The signed purchase contract.
- The appraisal with the rent schedule or STR analysis.
- The market projection report, if the program uses one.
- An insurance binder that covers short-term rental use. Some standard landlord policies exclude it.
One point on gross versus deposits: platform payouts differ from gross booking revenue because of withheld fees, collected taxes, and pass-through cleaning charges. Projection-based files avoid this problem on a purchase, but it matters on a refinance where actual statements come in.
Traditional personal-income documentation and employment verification are generally not the center of a DSCR review. That is different from saying there is no documentation. The property’s income evidence is still required.
Purchase vs. Refinance
The no-history path is a purchase path. On a refinance, lenders generally want actual operating records, and about 12 months of hosting history is the common expectation on STR refinances. A buyer who closes on a projection and then wants to refinance in the first year will usually find the file leaning on whatever booking record exists by then.
That has a planning consequence. If you buy on a projection, start keeping clean records from the first booking: platform statements, payout reports, and expense receipts. They become the file for the next transaction.
Judging Whether a Projection Is Believable
A projection is a model, and models can be generous. Before you rely on one, check four things.
1. Comparable set. Are the comps the same size, bedroom count, and amenity level, in the same submarket?
2. Seasonality. Does the annual figure depend on a short peak season?
3. Occupancy assumption. Does the report’s occupancy match what nearby listings actually show?
4. Stress case. Cut the projected income and see whether the coverage ratio still clears.
A projection that only works at the optimistic end is a file waiting to come in low at appraisal.
If the Numbers Don’t Clear
Several levers exist, and none is a promise.
- Down payment. More equity lowers the monthly obligation and can raise coverage, within the leverage cap.
- Price. A lower purchase price does the same thing from the other side.
- A different program. Lenders in the network differ on whether they use a projection, an STR analysis, or the 1007, and on how much they trim income.
- Sub-1.00 path. Select lenders in the network offer coverage below 1.00, with leverage and terms adjusted.
- Long-term rent fallback. If the long-term schedule clears coverage on its own, the loan stands without the Airbnb income and the STR becomes upside.
- A different route entirely. A buyer with strong traditional employment income and low debt may be better served by conventional financing, and a buyer who will live in one unit of a small multifamily has options a pure investor does not.
Bank-statement loans work off deposit history, which a first-time host does not have yet, so they rarely fit this situation.
Pre-Offer Checks
Confirm legal STR use before anything else. Zoning, HOA covenants, and local permit rules can end the deal regardless of how strong the projection is. Pending rule changes count too.
Then confirm the program accepts STR income at all. Some programs bar it on the subject property entirely and allow only long-term rent. Order the appraisal only after you know which method the lender will use, so you are not paying for a rent schedule that the program will not credit.
Finally, set up the entity early if you are using one. Entity documents are one of the quiet friction points on DSCR files, and they hold up review when they arrive late. Lendmire’s complete DSCR loans guide covers the full document stack.
Offer-to-Closing Sequence
1. Confirm legal STR use for the address.
2. Ask the lender which income method the program uses and how it trims projected income.
3. Pull the market projection and stress-test it.
4. Confirm leverage, credit, and reserves against the program.
5. Go under contract and order the appraisal with the correct rent analysis.
6. Bind insurance that covers short-term rental use.
7. Assemble entity documents and reserves documentation.
8. Start tracking bookings and expenses from the first night.
Key Terms Defined
DSCR: Monthly qualifying income divided by monthly principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and association dues.
Form 1007: An appraiser’s single-family rent schedule that estimates rent on a traditional lease.
STR analysis: An appraiser’s or data provider’s estimate of what a property earns as a short-term rental.
Projection: A modeled income figure based on comparable listings, used when the property has no booking record.
PITIA: The full monthly obligation: principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and association dues.
Seasoning: The ownership period a lender expects before certain refinance transactions, commonly around 6 months for cash-out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use Airbnb income to qualify if I’ve never hosted?
Usually, on a DSCR purchase, when the program accepts a projection or an STR analysis. The program may still ask about borrower experience separately, and about 12 months of hosting history is the common STR expectation. Ask the lender which applies before you commit to a property.
Will the appraisal count my Airbnb income?
Not by default. The standard rent schedule reflects monthly long-term rent, and appraisers value the real property, not the business income. A program that uses an STR analysis or a projection is what brings the Airbnb figure into the file.
Does every DSCR lender accept short-term rental income?
No. Some programs count only long-term rent on the subject property. That is why the program choice can decide whether a deal clears coverage.
What happens if the projection comes in low?
The lender may fall back to the long-term rent schedule, which can drop coverage below 1.00. Options include more down payment within the leverage cap, a lower price, a different program, or a select-lender sub-1.00 path with adjusted leverage and terms.
Does clearing 1.00 mean the property will be profitable?
No. The ratio compares income to the full payment only. Vacancy, repairs, management, utilities, and capital costs sit outside it.
If you are buying or refinancing a rental property and want to see how the numbers work, Lendmire can help you compare DSCR loan options based on the property income, credit profile, leverage, and investor goals. Tax treatment can depend on how the funds are used and how the property is held; investors should keep clear records and speak with a qualified tax professional before relying on any deduction.
About Lendmire
Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a DSCR-focused mortgage broker that helps arrange investor financing across 41 markets, including Washington, D.C., through wholesale and investor-lending channels. DSCR eligibility is generally reviewed by the lender around the property’s rental income rather than personal income documentation, subject to lender guidelines — which works for self-employed investors, LLC operators, and portfolios above four financed properties. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
1. Fannie Mae Selling Guide – Subject Property Rental Income
2. Fannie Mae – Appraiser Update June 2024
3. McKissock Learning – Form 1007 and STR Appraisals
This article is part of Lendmire’s short-term rental loan program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: Actual Airbnb Income vs. a Market Projection for a DSCR Loan · How DSCR Loans Work for the First-Time STR Buyer With No Rental History · How the DSCR Airbnb Income Haircut Works for Out-of-State STR Buyers
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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Required disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) operates as a licensed mortgage broker, not a direct lender or depository. The discussion in this article is general in nature and should not be relied upon as financial, legal, or tax advice — every investment scenario is unique and should be reviewed by a qualified professional. Any loan inquiry is subject to lender underwriting, and this article is not a commitment to lend or a guarantee of approval. Mortgage rates, loan terms, and program guidelines vary by borrower, property, and state, and may change without notice. Equal Housing Opportunity. Verify licensure at NMLS Consumer Access.