Can I use just my best three months?

No. The qualifying figure is trailing twelve months of net revenue divided by twelve, not a selected sample.

Are cleaning fees counted as income?

Generally excluded from both revenue and expense sides when they pass straight through to a cleaner, since they are a wash.

Does a slow month hurt my file mid-year?

No — the underwrite looks at the trailing twelve-month total, not a single recent month's performance.

Do I need to show occupancy tax separately?

Occupancy tax collected and remitted by the platform is typically stripped out before the net figure is calculated.

LESSON 2 OF 65 MIN READ

How does the 12-month rule turn short-term rental income into a monthly figure?

Short-term rental income is qualified on a trailing twelve months of platform revenue, net of platform fees, divided evenly by twelve. That single rule is what stops a four-month beach season or a ski-town winter from inflating the number a lender relies on. A property with fewer than twelve months of operating history is more likely to see a haircut applied to the annualised figure, and the practice for sizing that haircut varies by lender. On Silt's sheet the qualifying figure still slots into the ordinary DSCR test — monthly income over monthly PITIA — with a 37.5 basis point add-on for the short-term structure.

THE NUMBERS

Minimum DSCR	0.75 (0.75–0.99 prices at +62.5 bps, 70% LTV cap)
Maximum LTV	80% purchase or rate-and-term · 75% cash-out
FICO floor	660 (below that the desk does not lend)
Loan size	$100K – $3M single · $10M portfolio
Reserves	6 months PITIA · 12 months on a portfolio
Prepay options	5-4-3-2-1 par · 3-2-1 +25 bps · 1-yr +50 bps · none +87.5 bps
Typical days to close	21–30 days from a signed term sheet
Rate sheet	Silt Rate Desk — Market Composite Sept 2026 · effective 2026-09-01

ILLUSTRATIVE — published program floors, not a quote or a commitment to lend. Subject to underwriting, appraisal and final credit approval.

Why twelve months and not the busy season?

A short-term rental's revenue is lumpy by design — a beach house earns most of its money between May and September, a ski cabin between December and March. Dividing a peak month by one and calling that the monthly rent would wildly overstate what the property earns across a full year, which is why every host statement covering less than twelve months invites scrutiny. Twelve months captures the shoulder seasons and the dead months along with the good ones, giving a figure that actually resembles what will land in the bank account.

What goes into the gross-to-net conversion?

Underwriting starts from gross platform revenue — what Airbnb or Vrbo shows as total booking income for the trailing twelve months — and deducts platform fees, typically in the 3% range, to reach net revenue. That net figure, not the gross figure on the host dashboard, is what gets divided by twelve. Cleaning fees paid by the guest and passed straight through are usually excluded from both sides of that calculation, since they are a wash rather than income; the same is true of any occupancy tax collected and remitted by the platform.

Worked maths — a full year to a monthly figure

Take a coastal property with $96,000 in gross platform bookings across the trailing twelve months. Platform fees at 3% remove $2,880, leaving net revenue of $93,120. Divide by twelve and the monthly qualifying figure is $7,760 — not the $14,000 a single peak-July month might have generated, and not zero for the January the property sat empty. That $7,760 then becomes the numerator in the ordinary DSCR test against the property's PITIA.

What happens with less than a full year of history?

A property that only has nine months of host statements, perhaps because it was recently converted or recently purchased, presents an incomplete picture and most lenders respond with some form of haircut to the annualised figure rather than a straight extrapolation. How large that haircut runs, and whether a lender will accept partial-year data at all before requiring market comparables instead, varies by lender and is worth confirming with the desk before you order an appraisal.

Does seasonality change the PITIA side of the equation?

No — taxes, insurance and any HOA dues are fixed monthly costs regardless of when the revenue arrives, so the ratio still compares a smoothed income figure against a level expense figure. That mismatch is exactly the point: a strong ratio on paper does not guarantee the cash is available in the months it is actually owed, which is a cash-flow planning question for you rather than something the DSCR test addresses. Reserves of six months of PITIA exist partly to bridge that gap between an annual average and a real month.

What documentation supports the calculation?

Twelve consecutive months of platform earnings statements for the exact address, or a property manager's statement reconciling to those platforms, is the standard the desk works from. Screenshots of a single strong month, marketing projections from a listing site, or a broker's opinion of value are not a substitute for that trailing history. Where the twelve months span a period of documented renovation or closure, keep the receipts and permits, since a lender may treat that gap differently from ordinary vacancy.

One year of bookings, converted to a monthly figure

Peak month (July) gross revenue	$13,900
Trough month (January) gross revenue	$1,200
Trailing 12-month gross revenue	$96,000
Platform fees (3%)	−$2,880
Net revenue used	$93,120
Monthly qualifying figure — ÷ 12	$7,760 / mo
Taxes, insurance (STR policy), HOA	$1,480 / mo
Illustrative principal + interest	$3,120 / mo
DSCR — $7,760 ÷ $4,600	1.69

Qualifying on the July figure alone would show a DSCR above 3.0 — a number the property will never actually produce in a typical month. Illustrative only, not a quote or a commitment to lend.

WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU

Twelve months of platform statements. Airbnb, Vrbo or a manager's reconciled statement for this address.
Breakdown of fees and pass-throughs. Platform fees, cleaning fees and any occupancy tax collected.
Short-term rental insurance quote. The real premium at the property's actual use, not a long-term landlord policy.
Taxes and HOA dues. Current bills feeding the PITIA side of the ratio.
Entity documents. Articles, operating agreement and EIN letter.

FREQUENT QUESTIONS

Can I use just my best three months?: No. The qualifying figure is trailing twelve months of net revenue divided by twelve, not a selected sample.
What if I only have eight months of statements?: Most lenders apply a haircut to the annualised figure rather than a straight extrapolation; the exact treatment varies by lender.
Are cleaning fees counted as income?: Generally excluded from both revenue and expense sides when they pass straight through to a cleaner, since they are a wash.
Does a slow month hurt my file mid-year?: No — the underwrite looks at the trailing twelve-month total, not a single recent month's performance.
Do I need to show occupancy tax separately?: Occupancy tax collected and remitted by the platform is typically stripped out before the net figure is calculated.

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