New Fannie Mae Short-Term Rental Rules for 2026: What Florida Real Estate Investors Need to Know

Fannie Mae introduced new short-term-rental income guidelines on September 2, 2026. For an eligible one-unit investment-property purchase, lenders may document market rent using traditional long-term rent data or validated short-term-rental comparables. When qualifying from short-term market rents, only 50% of calculated gross rent is used before subtracting the property's PITIA, and positive income is limited to offsetting that housing payment. For Florida investors considering Airbnb, Vrbo or other vacation-rental properties, that makes understanding the difference between conventional rental-income underwriting and DSCR financing more important than ever.

What did Fannie Mae change?

On September 2, 2026, Fannie Mae published Selling Guide Announcement SEL-2026-08 and substantially reorganized its rental-income requirements.

Fannie Mae said rental-income policy had become increasingly difficult for lenders to navigate consistently, so the agency created more scenario-specific rules. The update includes a new section specifically for short-term rentals, a new departing-residence framework, standardized treatment for recently acquired investment properties and stronger lease requirements.

Lenders are allowed to implement these changes immediately. They become mandatory for loan applications dated November 1, 2026 or later.

For investors, one of the most interesting additions is the dedicated Short-Term Rental policy.

What does Fannie Mae consider a short-term rental?

Fannie Mae defines a short-term rental as a furnished residential property rented for brief periods, typically for less than 30 consecutive days, rather than under a traditional long-term lease.

Under the new subject-property STR policy:

• Only a one-unit investment property is eligible.
• The property must also be legally permitted to operate as a short-term rental and comply with applicable local registration and licensing requirements.
• Fannie Mae does not allow the short-term rental income covered by this policy to come from an accessory dwelling unit, or ADU.

That local-legality requirement is especially important in South Florida because a property being advertised as "Airbnb-friendly" does not automatically mean the contemplated rental use satisfies every applicable municipal, county, association or condominium restriction. Financing and legal STR use are two separate questions.

How can short-term rental income be documented on a purchase?

This is where the new policy gets especially interesting. For a purchase transaction, Fannie Mae now allows the lender to determine gross rental income using either:

Option 1: Traditional long-term market rent

A Single-Family Comparable Rent Schedule, Form 1007, can be completed using standard long-term rental comparables.

Option 2: Validated short-term-rental market data

The lender may instead obtain short-term-rental information from the MLS or property-management companies. If the STR-data approach is used, Fannie Mae requires information from three comparable short-term rentals. The data must include relevant rental rates, the number of days the comparable properties were rented during the prior calendar year and relevant factors affecting their use as short-term rentals. Comparables should come from the same market area when possible.

That's a meaningful development. Historically, an investor might look at an Airbnb revenue projection showing substantial gross annual income and assume that number could simply be plugged into mortgage qualification. Under this policy, the lender has a defined method for establishing and discounting that income.

The big number: Fannie Mae uses 50%

This is probably the part Florida investors and Realtors will find most important.

When short-term-rental market income is being used on a purchase, the lender takes the established monthly gross rental amount and multiplies it by 50%. The other 50% effectively accounts for vacancy and maintenance expenses under Fannie Mae's formula.

Then the lender subtracts the property's monthly PITIA:

• principal;
• interest;
• property taxes;
• homeowners insurance; and
• association dues when applicable.

Fannie Mae calls the resulting amount Adjusted Net Rental Income, or ANRI.

Simple example

Suppose validated short-term-rental analysis supports $6,000 per month gross rent.

Fannie Mae calculation:

$6,000 × 50% = $3,000

Assume PITIA is $2,700

Then: $3,000 – $2,700 = +$300

But here's the important part. For this scenario, that positive $300 is not necessarily additional qualifying income that can simply be stacked on top of the borrower's salary. Under the new purchase STR policy, positive ANRI may be used to offset the property's PITIA only. That distinction can materially affect qualification.

What happens if the rental calculation is negative?

Using the same example, imagine the PITIA is instead $3,500.

The calculation becomes:

$6,000 × 50% = $3,000

$3,000 – $3,500 = –$500

That $500 negative amount would generally need to be included in the borrower's debt-to-income calculation under the applicable policy. So simply finding a property with attractive projected Airbnb revenue doesn't automatically remove the housing expense from conventional underwriting. The actual qualifying formula matters.

Why is only 50% being used?

Short-term rental income can behave differently from a traditional 12-month lease. Occupancy can vary seasonally. Nightly rates can change. Management and turnover costs may be higher. Properties may experience periods with no bookings.

Rather than allowing the full projected gross amount to qualify, Fannie Mae's new purchase methodology uses the 50% adjustment before PITIA. Fannie Mae explicitly states that the remaining half accounts for vacancy losses and maintenance expenses.

For South Florida investors, this matters because a property that looks excellent on a gross Airbnb-revenue projection may produce a very different mortgage-qualification result.

What about refinancing an existing short-term rental?

The treatment can be different when the borrower already owns and operates the property. For a refinance, Fannie Mae generally requires the borrower's most recent individual federal income-tax return, including Schedule E. When the subject property's rental activity is already reported there, the lender analyzes the actual Schedule E cash flow and averages the result as required before considering PITIA.

If the property is not yet reflected on the most recent Schedule E, Fannie Mae's newer market-rent documentation framework can apply. That distinction makes history valuable. A seasoned vacation rental with documented tax-return income can be evaluated differently from a brand-new STR purchase based predominantly on projected market income.

What if I'm buying my first investment property?

This is another important limitation. Fannie Mae's general rental-income rules restrict how positive rental income can be treated when a borrower has limited or no property-management experience.

When a borrower has no prior property-management experience—or less than 12 months in applicable circumstances—qualifying rental income may generally be limited to offsetting the property's PITIA rather than producing additional positive qualifying income.

That doesn't automatically prevent a first-time investor from financing a property. It means the lender has to determine how much of the rental income can actually be used in the qualifying calculation. This is one reason I like reviewing investment scenarios before a buyer writes an offer.

Fannie Mae also changed the rules for departing residences

Another part of the September update affects homeowners who are buying a new primary residence and want to turn their existing home into a rental.

Under the new framework, a lender may use market-supported rent rather than relying on a new lease agreement for the departing residence. Fannie Mae permits documentation such as an appraisal with market rents, Form 1007, or market-analysis tools such as MLS, Zillow or Redfin when at least three comparable rentals are obtained.

There is also a reserve consideration. If the borrower has less than 12 months of property-management experience, the lender must verify six months of reserves for the departing residence's PITIA, in addition to other applicable reserve requirements.

That's a valuable planning point for homeowners thinking: "Instead of selling my current home, maybe I'll keep it as a rental." The strategy can work, but the qualifying income and reserve requirements need to be reviewed before assuming the current housing payment disappears.

New lease agreements are getting more scrutiny too

Fannie Mae's September update also strengthened standards when a lease agreement is being used to document qualifying rental income.

For certain newly executed leases dated within two months of the mortgage application, the lease generally must have a minimum term of at least six months, and the first rental payment must be due no later than the first payment due date on the new mortgage.

For applicable properties not yet appearing on the borrower's latest Form 1040, Fannie Mae also restricts leases with family members or interested parties and requires evidence that the lease has actually gone into effect. Depending on the situation, that can include two months of identifiable rent payments, or for a newly executed lease, evidence of the security deposit and first full month's rent being paid and deposited.

In other words: Signing a lease by itself may no longer be enough in situations covered by the new standards.

There's also a new "45-day" investor rule

Fannie Mae created another specific policy for an investment property the borrower purchased within 45 days of the application date for the new subject property. One- through four-unit investment properties can qualify under this framework.

But Fannie Mae specifically does not permit a lease agreement to establish rental income for these recently acquired investment properties. Instead, market rent generally needs to be supported through:

• an applicable appraisal;
• Form 1007 for an eligible single-unit property; or
• certain market-analysis tools for multi-unit properties, supported by at least three rental comparables.

The gross rent is then multiplied by 75%, after which PITIA is subtracted. Positive adjusted rental income is limited to offsetting PITIA; a negative result enters the DTI calculation. That can matter for investors trying to acquire several properties in a short period.

Conventional vs. DSCR: this is where strategy matters

This Fannie Mae update does not replace DSCR financing. They're different approaches.

A conventional investment-property mortgage analyzes the borrower under Fannie Mae's applicable income, asset, credit and property rules, including the rental-income calculations discussed above. A DSCR loan is a non-QM investor product where qualification can instead focus heavily on the property's rental-income relationship to its housing expense rather than traditional personal-income documentation.

That means an investor should not automatically assume: "Conventional is always better." or: "I should always use DSCR." The more useful question is: Which financing structure works best for this specific property, borrower and investment plan? That can depend on the rental projection, personal income, tax returns, property-management experience, number of financed properties, reserves, expected occupancy, rate and costs.

Why this is especially relevant in South Florida

South Florida has an unusually diverse rental market. A property might work as:

• a traditional annual rental;
• a seasonal furnished rental;
• a vacation rental;
• a medium-term rental; or
• an owner-occupied property that later converts to investment use.

Those strategies can produce very different income numbers. The new Fannie Mae rules reinforce something I tell investors regularly: Rental income on paper and rental income a mortgage lender can use are not always the same thing. Before calculating a maximum purchase price from an Airbnb estimate or expected rent, we need to determine how the actual loan program will recognize that income.

Current mortgage-rate context

Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, published September 3, 2026, reported an average 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 6.71%, up from 6.66% one week earlier. The 15-year average was 6.04%. These figures represent national conventional-market averages based on qualifying loan applications and are not an investment-property, DSCR, short-term-rental or individual borrower quote.

For investors, I would avoid making a decision based solely on a headline rate. The more useful analysis is the property's complete economics: Purchase price + financing + rent + vacancy + taxes + insurance + HOA + operating expenses + reserves + exit strategy.

What I'm watching for Florida investors

I think the biggest practical takeaway from the September update is that Fannie Mae is acknowledging short-term rentals as a distinct underwriting scenario rather than forcing every rental property into the same framework. But the policy is deliberately conservative.

The 50% treatment of projected STR gross rent on purchases is a reminder that the revenue advertised by a listing agent, seller, Airbnb calculator or investment website is not automatically mortgage qualifying income. That's why I prefer to run the financing strategy before the investor becomes committed to the property.

Sometimes conventional financing will produce an excellent structure. Sometimes DSCR will be more practical. Sometimes the deal simply doesn't work after realistic expenses are included. Knowing that before the inspection period expires is far better than discovering it during underwriting.

Bottom line

Fannie Mae's September 2026 update gives mortgage lenders a clearer framework for short-term rental income—but it also makes clear that Airbnb revenue projections aren't simply taken at face value.

For eligible STR purchases, validated market rents may now be used under a specific methodology, but the gross amount is generally reduced to 50% before PITIA, and positive adjusted income can be limited to offsetting the property's payment. For Florida real estate investors, that's another reason to analyze both conventional and DSCR financing before making an offer.

The best loan isn't necessarily the program with the most familiar name. It's the one that fits the property, the income strategy and the investor's overall plan.

Loan approval, rental-income treatment, property eligibility, STR legality and loan terms are subject to applicable agency guidelines, lender overlays, underwriting, appraisal and borrower qualification. Short-term-rental rules may also vary by municipality, association and property. This article is educational and is not a commitment to lend, legal advice, tax advice or a guarantee of financing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Authoritative Sources

• Fannie Mae — September 2, 2026 Selling Guide Update SEL-2026-08
• Fannie Mae — Short-Term Rental Income Requirements
• Fannie Mae — General Rental Income Requirements
• Fannie Mae — Departing Residence Rental Income
• Fannie Mae — Investment Properties Purchased Within 45 Days
• Freddie Mac — September 3, 2026 Mortgage Rate Data