How AirDNA Income Qualifies You for a Short-Term Rental Loan
How lenders use AirDNA Rentalizer data to qualify short-term rental loans, what data matters, how it's verified, and what to do when AirDNA looks off.
Why AirDNA exists as an underwriting tool
Before AirDNA, financing a brand-new short-term rental purchase was hard. Lenders needed rental history to underwrite income, and a first-time Airbnb had none. AirDNA solved this by aggregating actual booking data from Airbnb and VRBO listings and publishing address-level revenue projections.
Today, AirDNA Rentalizer reports are the standard way DSCR lenders underwrite short-term rental income on a property that has never been rented before.
What the lender is looking at
The number that matters is projected annual revenue for a comparable-tier property, same bedroom count, similar amenities, similar location. That annualized revenue is divided by 12 and used as the monthly rental income in the DSCR calculation.
Average daily rate and occupancy percentage are shown on the report but are secondary. Investors sometimes fixate on the ADR headline; underwriters focus on the total revenue line.
What to do when AirDNA looks wrong
AirDNA can undershoot on markets with recent supply growth and overshoot on unique properties with amenities that aren't represented in the comp set. When the report doesn't match reality, the fix is a written explanation from the buyer plus supporting data, recent comparable listings, a market-specific report, or a professional property management projection.
Some lenders will consider a higher of two market projections, but the safer play is to pick properties where AirDNA already supports the deal.
Frequently asked
- Do all DSCR lenders accept AirDNA income?
- Most, but not all. The lenders that specialize in short-term rentals use AirDNA Rentalizer projections. Confirm before you write an offer.
- Which AirDNA number does the lender use?
- Projected annual revenue for a comparable-tier property, divided by 12 to arrive at monthly rental income for the DSCR calculation.
- What if the appraiser's 1007 is lower than AirDNA?
- Most lenders will use the lower of the two to be conservative, though some programs allow the AirDNA projection to stand on its own.