New Program Allows Short-Term Rental Income to Be Used for Refinances

The new program, from Quicken Loans, uses ldquo;rental income earned through VRBO to be used to qualify for a mortgage refinance,rdquo; the lender said in a news >

Typically, investment property income can help a borrowerrsquo;s debt-to-income ratio, but being able to show income from short-term rentals is a sign of the times. "Vrbo helps homeowners use one of their biggest assets as a source of income.nbsp;Now Quicken Loans can accurately review that income and consider it when calculating the debt-to-income ratio ndash; a major data point considers when qualifying for a mortgage," Jay Farner, CEO of Quicken Loans, said in a >

This evolution makes sense when you consider how closely tied the income generated by these short-term rentals is to ongoing living expenses. ldquo;Rental income and mortgage payments are often intertwined,rdquo; said Inman News. ldquo;A June 2018 market report from Vrbo found that more than 50 percent of short-term rental owners utilizing the platform use income generated from their property to cover at least 75 percent of their mortgage payment.rdquo;
The rental income can come from a primary residence or a second home, and primary residences, vacation homes, and investment properties can all be refinanced under the program.

The Vrbo partnership with Quicken comes on the heels of competitor Airbnbrsquo;s announcement last year that itrsquo;s working with both Quicken and Fannie Mae to ldquo;allow anyone who has rented out property on Airbnb for a year or longer to count some or all of that money as incomerdquo; when applying for a refinance, said MarketWatch.