Posts

Short-Term Rentals and DSCR Loans

Image from Pexels

By Rick Tobin

Over the past several years, most short-term and long-term rental property owners created the bulk of their wealth from the annual equity gains related to buying and holding their properties as values increased anywhere between 10% to 40% per year. In California alone back in 2021, it was reported that the average home statewide increased in value $11,000 per month or $132,000 for the entire year. If so, I doubt that many Airbnb or VRBO hosts collected more than $132,000 in gross or net rent profits.

Image from Pixabay

Did you know that San Diego, California was ranked as the #1 for having the highest gross revenues of any Airbnb region in the world in 2021? Please see the complete Top 10 list of the highest grossing rentals in the world later in this article.

Let’s look next at just some of the short-term rental listing companies which assist vacation rental property owners with the leasing of their properties:

  • Airbnb
  • VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner)
  • Booking.com
  • TripAdvisor
  • Expedia
  • HomeToGo
  • Tripping
  • Homestay.com
  • Atraveo
  • OneFineStay

The prominent travel booking company named Expedia purchased VRBO back in December 2015. As a result, Expedia continues to be one of the most dominant short-term rental companies in the world.

As per published Airbnb data, here are the Top 10 states for average annual host or property owners earnings for 2021:

  1. Hawaii: $73,247
  2. Tennessee: $67,510
  3. Arizona: $60,448
  4. Colorado: $58,108
  5. California: $54,461
  6. Florida: $53,209
  7. South Carolina: $49,641
  8. Utah: $48,568
  9. Oregon: $42,964
  10. Alabama: $41,937

Image from Pixabay

If a rental property owner confides in you that he or she collected $50,000+ in gross income from Airbnb last year, this number may only represent a small percentage of their overall total revenue collected from both short-term and long-term tenants (30 days+) because they may have multiple income stream options by way of VRBO, Booking.com, or other companies that help supply them with consistent tenants. This is especially true when the property is located in a populous metropolitan region or a prime vacation getaway area like those found in San Diego, Santa Barbara, or Miami.

No Income Verification Loans for Rentals

Most real estate investors usually need third-party mortgage financing to purchase one or more rental properties even if they are very wealthy themselves. Many years ago, it was quite challenging to qualify for a rental property because you were asked to provide two years’ worth of tax returns, a detailed profit-and-loss statement, and the mortgage underwriters would only give you credit for 75% of your gross monthly rents when attempting to qualify or deny your loan request. This 75% number was due to the fact that lenders assumed that you had property management fees, vacancy rates above 0% throughout the year, and operating expenses for repairs.

As a result, that $2,000 gross rent turned into just $1,500 (75%) and many investors were later denied because few lenders wanted to lend on a rental property with negative monthly cash flow if the proposed monthly mortgage payment (principal, interest, property taxes, insurance, and homeowners association fees, if applicable) was $1,501 or higher.

Image from Pexels

Today, many investors are qualifying to purchase short-term and long-term rentals by way of non-QM or DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio) programs which don’t require borrower applicants’ tax returns, W-2s, or other formal income documents to qualify. Now, some lending programs take the closest look at the subject property before determining if the rental property can at least break-even at a 1.0 DSCR number where 100% of the gross monthly rents are at least equal to the proposed mortgage payment. In these underwriting scenarios, 100% of the gross rents are used to qualify instead of just 75% like was more the norm in years past.

For a DSCR loan, it allows borrower applicants to use the market rent (actual or future, in some cases) of the property to qualify rather than the borrower’s business income. This is especially beneficial for self-employed business owners or investors who have a lot of tax write-offs and minimal net income shown on their tax returns.

Some of these DSCR program highlights include:

  • 640+ FICO
  • Up to 80% LTV
  • Available on investment properties only
  • Finance up to 20 properties
  • Loan amounts up to $2M per property

Some of my other lender programs allow negative cash-flow for rental properties up to 70% LTV for cash-out or purchase transactions while not requiring any additional income from the borrower applicant.

Airbnb Statistic

Image from Pexels

Because Airbnb is the biggest name in the short-term rental business sector, let’s review some of these shocking numbers that confirm how successful this investment property model has been for Airbnb corporate and for individual hosts or property owners.

Airbnb History

  • An average of six guests every single second check into an Airbnb listing.
  • Airbnb listings represent 19% of the total demand for lodging in the US.
  • Over 150 million people have booked over one billion nightly stays.
  • The average US Airbnb occupancy rate is 48%.
  • The average stay is 4.3 nights.

2021 Data

  • The global Average Daily Rate (ADR) was $137 per night in 2021 as compared to $110/night in 2020.
  • California properties had a much higher nightly average of $258 per night.
  • In December 2021, there were 12.7 million listings worldwide.
  • There were 2,249,434 listings in the US in 2021.
  • 356.9 million nights were booked on Airbnb in 2021.

Highest Gross Revenues Worldwide for Airbnb Properties

Image from Pixabay

Surprisingly, these populous metropolitan regions such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Paris, London, or Hong Kong weren’t ranked #1 for being the most profitable Airbnb region in the world with the highest gross revenues. No, the honor for the most profitable Airbnb region in the world in 2021 was San Diego, California.

In 2020, seven of the Top 10 highest gross revenues for Airbnb properties were all in the US. One region that stands out is Big Bear, California, which is the best-known mountain resort community in Southern California. Listed below are the 2020 gross revenue numbers for the Top 10 regions in the world:

Compounding Wealth With Equity Gains

There are many individual or family investors across the nation who have acquired 5, 10, 15, or 20+ short-term rental properties. The bulk of their family’s net worth doesn’t usually come from the net annual rental income. No, the family’s net worth is compounding each year with double-digit appreciation rates like we’ve all seen for several years now.

To better understand how the acquisition of multiple rental properties is more likely to create the bulk of your net worth, let’s take a look at a fictional California property owner who saw each of his rental homes appreciate $11,000 per month or $132,000 for the entire year in 2021:

Investors can apply any excess net rental income each year to paying off their mortgage faster. With consistent annual rents, a 30-year mortgage or a shorter-term 5-year or 7-year interest-only mortgage with much lower monthly payments than the best 30-year fully amortizing rates can be paid off much faster as more principal is paid off with extra payments.

The sooner that your homes are free and clear, the earlier you can retire and live off of the monthly cash flow while not touching your equity gains. A fairly consistent plan of buying and holding short-term and/or long-term rental properties is a prime example of letting your money work hard for you instead of the other way around.

Rick Tobin

Rick Tobin has a diversified background in both the real estate and securities fields for the past 30+ years. He has held seven (7) different real estate and securities brokerage licenses to date, and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Rick has an extensive background in the financing of residential and commercial properties around the U.S with debt, equity, and mezzanine money. His funding sources have included banks, life insurance companies, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), equity funds, and foreign money sources. You can visit Rick Tobin at RealLoans.com for more details.


Learn live and in real-time with Realty411. Be sure to register for our next virtual and in-person events. For all the details, please visit Realty411.com or our Eventbrite landing page, CLICK HERE.

Covid-19 and Airbnb

By Holly Lynn

The outbreak of the Covid-19 Virus has put a damper on short-term rentals around the world. With travel restrictions tightening the necks of travelers; Airbnb is experiencing a downturn in rental stays. Especially in affected areas.

Airbnb has reformed its cancellation policy to both hosts and travelers. If you are an Airbnb host, you may experience a fluctuation in rentals and cancellations. Reviewing the updated policy is essential. Airbnb is also announcing More Flexible Reservations In Times Of Uncertainty. This is a program that Airbnb is developing to assist hosts and guests when situations like the Coronavirus outbreak happens and to help them cancel or postpone their plans.

airbnb-3399753_1280Along with these changes, Airbnb is also offering incentives for hosts who are willing and able to offer refunds on cancellations that would have otherwise been subject to charges. They will also provide promotions to boost listings and bookings.

As an Airbnb host, there are things that you can do to make the guests you do have to feel safe and assured that their accommodations are up to standards set forth by common sense and the World Health Organization or WHO.

Here are some ideas that may help you:

Post Hygiene Standards List

hand-washing-4818792_1280

  • Post proper hand washing techniques in the kitchen and restroom.
  • Clean your hands often
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
  • If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub them together until they feel dry.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

Supply Surface Wipes and Sprays

spray-315164_1280Supplying surface wipes or sprays such as Clorox, Lysol, and Purell for daily cleaning of surfaces that are touched often as a preventative measure. These include counters, tabletops, doorknobs, light switches, bathroom fixtures, toilets, phones, keyboards, tablets, and bedside tables. Surfaces that may have blood, stool, or body fluids on them should also be cleaned.

Wash All Bedding, Linens, Towels, And dishes

Washing all bedding, linens, towels and dishes is important even if the guests did not use them. You can’t be certain if an ill guest has coughed or sneezed on a dish or a throw blanket. Better safe than sorry. Putting dishes in the dishwasher is extra work but satisfying knowing that you are doing all you can for the health of your guests. Assuring them that these practices are in place will give the next guest a feeling of security and comfort.

Provide Snacks, Coffees, Cereals In Single-Serve Size

coffee-791919_1280Providing snacks, coffees, cereals, and single-serve packaging will prevent cross-contamination. Using bins to hold oatmeal or coffee can spread germs from one guest to the next. In actuality, it should be practiced all of the time.

These are just some of the things that you can do to keep the coronavirus at bay. With ever-evolving information made available through sites such as NIH, CDC, and WHO, a daily check-in will keep you updated on changing information and areas affected.

Just remember that this too shall pass. We always bounce back from adverse situations. The human race is enduring.

If you need staging and Airbnb management, hard money loans, or private lending, email me at [email protected] or call me at 415-317-6071.


holly-lynn-square

Holly Lynn

Experienced Owner with a demonstrated history of working in the real estate industry. Skilled in Team Building, Television, Leadership, Marketing, and Digital Marketing. Strong business development professional who graduated from San Francisco State University, College of Business.

The Queen of Capital, Holly Lynn specializes in helping people with their real estate needs. She is a creative and results-driven resource who can help investors at every level.

Her authentic, personal relationships with both lenders and investors coupled with her vision, work ethic and endless desire to make the deal work position her as a sought-after, leader in the industry.

Holly Lynn can help you with hard money, private financing and other funding for your investments and projects.

She is a self-taught deal maker who has always had a keen business sense. She works with investors and syndication across the board who are looking for real estate investments that produce passive income streams.

She built B.A.M.F into the single most recognized name that is designed to build strong relationships and invest in multifamily projects to create massive cash flow and wealth. B.A.M.F monthly meetups in San Francisco, San Mateo, Fremont, San Jose and those conducted through webinars are open for everyone. As the multifamily properties continue to be an investment megatrend, She gives everyone an opportunity to learn about multifamily property investments and opportunities that would only be otherwise available for top dealers and those who met the qualifications by SEC. But through B.A.M.F, you can meet with experts and deal organizers who can provide you with great investment options.

Holly’s reputation has been earned one transaction at a time with no substitute for hard work and honesty. Take advantage of her deep proven experience in the real estate and investment market by joining her events and mixers. Mixers that are organized by B.A.M.F is sought after by reputable individuals in the investment and finance field. It is your chance to learn and grow.

“I have always believed that your money is waiting for you, but you have to keep yourself open to receiving it.”

– Holly Lynn –