Mortgage Glossary
AirDNA
A short-term rental data analytics platform — the industry-standard source for forecasting vacation rental income on a specific property.
What is AirDNA?
AirDNA is a third-party data company that tracks short-term rental performance across Airbnb, VRBO, and other vacation-rental platforms. It scrapes listings, bookings, and prices across millions of properties to produce two key outputs that lenders care about: a Market Score (data confidence in a given submarket) and a Rentalizer / Property Earning Potential report (a 12-month income forecast for a specific address).
The Rentalizer compares the subject property to 3 or more nearby comparable rentals by bedroom count, amenities, and location, then projects average daily rate (ADR), occupancy, and monthly revenue. For a DSCR lender, this fills the gap that traditional long-term-rental data can’t cover: most STRs would have negative DSCR if calculated against 12-month-lease comps, but they generate substantial positive cash flow on a vacation-rental basis.
AirDNA reports are particularly important for purchase transactions where the property has no operating history yet — without projected income, the buyer would have nothing to underwrite against.
How AirDNA applies at Total Quality Lending
Total Quality Lending accepts AirDNA Rentalizer / Property Earning Potential reports as income documentation for short-term rental DSCR purchases with these requirements:
- Market Score ≥ 60 for the submarket
- 3 or more comparable properties in the report
- 12-month forecast period
- Report dated within 90 days of the Note date
- Max occupancy of 2 per bedroom assumed in the projection
- Report must come from AirDNA’s official Rentalizer product
For refinances where the property has 12+ months of actual STR operating history, tax returns or 12-month bank statements are typically used instead of AirDNA.
FAQs
What is AirDNA used for in a mortgage?
AirDNA's Rentalizer (also called Property Earning Potential) reports project a property's short-term rental income based on comparable Airbnb and VRBO performance in the local market. Total Quality Lending accepts these reports as income documentation for STR (short-term rental) DSCR purchases — letting investors qualify on projected vacation rental income before the property has any operating history.
What are the AirDNA report requirements at TQL?
Total Quality Lending requires: Market Score ≥ 60, at least 3 comparable properties in the report, a 12-month forecast period, report dated within 90 days of the Note date, and max occupancy of 2 people per bedroom. The report must come from AirDNA's official Rentalizer / Property Earning Potential product.
What if AirDNA's market score is below 60?
If the local Market Score is under 60, AirDNA's data confidence is too thin to use as primary income documentation. Alternative paths: use existing 12-month rental history (Airbnb, VRBO, FlipKey statements), use long-term rental income (1007 rent schedule), or switch to a borrower-income-qualified Prime Time loan.
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