The property earns more across spring training and tournament season than most Scottsdale rentals collect in a year. You have the platform statements. You have the calendar. You have the deposits.
Your lender's answer was to ignore every bit of it and qualify you on what a long-term tenant would pay, which is not the business you are in and not the number the deal was underwritten on when you bought it.
A Scottsdale short-term rental can be qualified on its nightly income under a DSCR loan. The terms tighten when you do it: leverage is capped at 70% combined loan-to-value, the coverage floor rises to 1.00x, and the maximum loan size drops to $2,000,000.
That is the trade, and it is worth naming plainly. Short-term rent is usually the higher number, and the program charges you for using it in the form of a larger down payment and a stricter ratio.
The rules, as written
From CMG Financial's Non-QM Sharp Series guidelines (NMLS #1820, revised 09/21/2026), short-term rental income is permitted for both purchase and refinance transactions. The income must be legally permitted and considered common for the area, confirmed by the appraisal and/or the property location.
Compare that to a standard long-term DSCR file on the same program, where coverage is eligible at 0.75x. Moving to short-term rental income costs you a quarter turn of coverage and a meaningful slice of leverage.
How the rent number is set
This is the part that decides your file, and purchases and refinances are treated differently.
On a purchase, gross rent is based on 100% of the 1007 market rent from the appraisal, or 100% of a supplemental appraisal form completed by the appraiser of record reporting short-term rental income.
On a refinance, gross rent is the lower of:
- 100% of the 1007 market rent from the appraisal, or 100% of the supplemental appraisal form reporting short-term rental income, and
- 100% of actual 12-month short-term rental income history, supported by documentation from Airbnb, VRBO, HomeAway or a third-party property management provider.
The guidelines are explicit that a full 12-month history is required for refinance transactions.
Read that carefully if you are planning to refinance a property you started renting nightly six months ago. You do not have the history the program requires, and the file waits.
Documentation the underwriter will want
Two acceptable routes to prove the income:
- A supplemental appraisal form completed by the licensed appraiser who performed the original appraisal. It must accompany and be part of the original appraisal, not arrive separately later.
- Third-party verification, either from a property management provider or from the platforms themselves. Airbnb, VRBO and HomeAway are named as acceptable.
Whichever route, the documentation must include the property address or a unique property ID specific to the subject property. A platform statement showing aggregate earnings across three properties does not identify anything.
Why this is a Scottsdale conversation
Scottsdale short-term rental income is not evenly distributed across the year. Spring training, the golf tournament week, and the winter season carry a disproportionate share of annual revenue, and the shoulder months look nothing like February.
That seasonality is exactly why the program leans on a full twelve months on refinances rather than a recent run. A six-month history captured across the strong season is not a year, and underwriting knows it.
It also cuts the other way. If you have a genuine twelve-month history through a full Scottsdale cycle, you are holding the documentation the program actually asks for, and that is a stronger position than a pro forma.
The leverage math, before you shop
Work backwards from the 70% cap. On a $1,200,000 property, that is a $360,000 down payment before closing costs, and the coverage still has to clear 1.00x at the note rate on the full payment including taxes, insurance and any association dues.
Association dues matter more here than most investors expect. Scottsdale condo and PUD dues can be substantial, they sit inside PITIA, and they push directly against the coverage ratio. A property with attractive nightly rates and heavy dues can miss the ratio that a plainer property clears comfortably.
Confirm the property may legally do this
The income has to be legally permitted. Arizona regulates short-term rentals at the state level with municipal authority layered on top, and cities including Scottsdale have adopted licensing, permitting and enforcement requirements that have changed repeatedly in recent years.
Do not treat this as paperwork you handle after closing. If the property cannot lawfully operate as a short-term rental, the income cannot be used, and the file becomes a long-term DSCR at long-term rents, which is a different approval and often a different price. Confirm current municipal requirements directly with the city before you rely on nightly income to qualify.
Why bring this file to us
- We use the rent the guidelines will accept, not the projection in a listing pro forma, so the approval does not move late.
- We know the leverage changes. Short-term rental income tightens the loan-to-value and raises the coverage floor, and that reshapes the down payment.
- Scottsdale specifics. Event-driven seasonality and municipal rules are part of the underwrite here, not background colour.
- Broker model. Multiple investors rather than one bank's shelf, which is what a file like this needs when the first answer is no.
- You talk to the principal. Ricky Khamis is President of EPiQ Lending, NMLS #173141, lending in Arizona since 1999. Direct line: (480) 999-9842.
EPiQ Lending is NMLS #1936984, at 7975 N. Hayden Road, Suite A-101 in Scottsdale. Verify all of it before you trust any of it: Ricky's EPiQ Lending profile, the Scottsdale branch, and the license itself at NMLS Consumer Access. Hold every lender to that standard, including us.
Send me the address and twelve months of platform statements if you have them, and I will tell you which rent figure the file will actually use.
Program figures in this post are from the CMG Financial (NMLS #1820) guideline set named above, as published on the revision date given. They describe one investor's program at one point in time. Other investors price and underwrite the same borrower differently, guidelines change without notice, and nothing here is an offer of any specific program or terms. Confirm current eligibility on your own file before you plan around any of it.
Equal Housing Opportunity. This is general information, not a commitment to lend or an offer to extend credit. Rates, terms, and program guidelines change and depend on credit approval, property appraisal, income and asset verification, and other qualifying factors. Not all applicants will qualify. Non-QM, asset-based and business purpose financing carry different pricing, terms and consumer protections than agency financing. Consult your tax advisor regarding the tax treatment of any income or distribution strategy.
Run the coverage ratio before you write the offer
DSCR files are decided by the rent against the payment. Send the address and the rent and I will tell you where the ratio lands before you are committed.
