Airbnb loans and short term rental DSCR financing in 38 states

A short term rental loan is a business purpose loan on a non owner occupied investment property. I review whether an LLC or your personal name fits. Montana DSCR loans close in an LLC only. Georgia, New York and Virginia DSCR loans close in an LLC or corporation, not in your personal name. In my other covered states, an LLC or your personal name works.

I use actual rental history or an AirDNA Rentalizer report, depending on the transaction. I review seasonality, the reporting period and the program before qualifying the income.

I also finance 5 to 9 unit short term rental properties on a DSCR loan. I explain the documentation in my 5 to 9 unit short term rental guide.

I explain Airbnb income on a 5 unit property in my article about small multifamily short term rentals.

Property types include single family short term rentals, condos and condotels, program by program. Association rules matter as much as the loan program does, so I check the HOA or condo documents for rental restrictions, minimum stay rules and any registration requirement before I recommend a program.

A short term rental usually runs furnished, with its own insurance considerations, higher turnover costs and property management if you're not doing it yourself. Get a real insurance quote on the exact address before you count on the numbers.

I compare DSCR programs against your investment property, entity and rental income, then explain which one fits.

I arrange short term rental DSCR financing for investment properties rented out regularly. I cover personal-use financing on my vacation home loans and snowbird page. I review how you plan to use the property before recommending a program.

Florida Statutes §509.032(7)(b) sets the state framework: a local law can't prohibit vacation rentals or regulate how long or how often they're rented, but local rules from on or before June 1, 2011 still stand. If a unit is rented more than three times a calendar year for under 30 days, the state requires a DBPR vacation rental license, per the DBPR vacation rental licensing guide. You'll also need a Florida DOR sales tax registration and a county tourist development tax account, unless every booking goes through a platform that collects for the county.

St. Petersburg: under City Code §16.90.020.3, renting a home for less than a month more than three times in any 365 day period makes it a transient accommodation use, a hotel type use, allowed only where zoning permits it. This is per the St. Petersburg City Code.

Sarasota County (unincorporated only): UDC §124-305 and §124-76(a)(3)b.6.i allow short term rentals under 30 days as a permitted use in RMF districts on the Barrier Islands only. This is per the Sarasota County Unified Development Code. Check your zoning for everywhere else.

City of Naples: single family homes are rented for 30 days or longer. This is per the City of Naples.

City of Sarasota: a minimum stay of 7 nights and a city vacation rental registration certificate. See the city's vacation rental page.

City of Miami: single family homes and duplexes in T3 and T4-R zones are not eligible. See the city's short term rental page.

Tampa: the state license plus a Hillsborough County tourist development tax account. This is per the Hillsborough County Tax Collector. No city registration is required.

Can short term rental income count on a Maine DSCR loan? Yes. 1 to 4 unit programs can count short term rental income. It depends on the program. Maine has a real seasonality curve, a summer peak, a shoulder season, and a slower winter, and I look at the whole year, not just July and August. I also finance 5 to 9 unit short term rental properties on a DSCR loan. I review these files program by program; see my 5 to 9 unit short term rental guide.

Under Maine Revenue Services Instructional Bulletin No. 32, if you rent a place for 15 days or more in a calendar year you register with Maine Revenue Services and collect lodging tax. A unit rented fewer than 15 days a year is generally not treated as a retailer, but if a platform or agent handles the booking, it collects the tax.

Portland: every short term rental registers with the city every year, and the registration number goes in every ad. Single family homes on the mainland must be owner occupied, or tenant occupied with the owner's OK. Non owner occupied mainland rentals are capped, and the cap is figured each year as a share of the prior year's registered long term rental units, reset every September 1. See the city's short term rental page and code.

Other markets I see clients ask about: coastal York County (Ogunquit, Kennebunkport, Old Orchard Beach), check the town's current rules. Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island, check the town's current rules. The Midcoast (Brunswick, Camden, Rockland), check the town's current rules. The Lakes Region, check the town's current rules, plus HOA and deed limits and well and septic questions on lake and rural places.

• Property type, income counting method, LLC or personal name
• ID and bank statements for reserves
• Entity documents if closing in an LLC
• STR history or a projection report
• An insurance quote on the exact address
• A lease or rent schedule if the property already has one

1. Send me the address and how you plan to use it
2. Check zoning, city, county and association rules
3. Confirm how the program will count the rent
4. Get a real insurance quote
5. Pre qualify
6. Appraisal with a rent schedule
7. Entity documents if closing in an LLC
8. Underwriting
9. Closing