Can You Use Short-Term Rental Income to Qualify for a Myrtle Beach Mortgage?

Short-term rental income can help you qualify for a Myrtle Beach loan. It just does a lot less than most people expect, and on September 2, 2026 Fannie Mae wrote down exactly how much for the first time.

Here’s the part that matters. Before this, there was no dedicated rule. Lenders worked off the general rental income guidance and everybody read it a little differently. Now there’s a section with your name on it if you’re buying a beach house to put on a nightly rental calendar, and the honest summary is that the income usually gets to cancel out the new payment rather than add to what you can afford.

Can you use short-term rental income to qualify?

Yes, on a one-unit investment property. Not on a second home, and not on your own house.

Fannie Mae’s new section B3-3.8-03 defines a short-term rental as a furnished residential property rented for brief periods, typically less than 30 consecutive days, rather than under a standard long-term lease. It’s eligible on one-unit investment properties only, and the income can’t come from an accessory dwelling unit. That rule published on September 2, 2026 and becomes mandatory for loans with application dates on and after November 1, 2026. Lenders can apply it now, so ask where the one you’re talking to stands.

The calculation is the piece people don’t see coming. The lender takes your gross monthly rent and counts half of it. The other half is written off for vacancy and maintenance before anyone looks at your file. Then the new payment on that property, taxes and insurance included, gets subtracted from what’s left. For comparison, a normal long-term rental gets counted at three quarters under B3-3.8-02. Nightly rentals get counted at half.

What proof does the lender need?

On a purchase, one of two things. Either an appraiser completes Form 1007, the Single-Family Comparable Rent Schedule, on a standard long-term basis, or you bring validated rental data from the MLS or a property management company showing three comparable short-term rentals with their daily, weekly or monthly rates and the number of days each was rented in the last calendar year.

On a refinance of a property you already rent this way, it’s your most recent IRS Form 1040 with Schedules 1 and E. If the property hasn’t hit a tax return yet, you fall back to the purchase method.

One more requirement, and it’s the one that quietly ends deals here: the property has to be legally permitted to operate as a short-term rental, including compliance with all applicable local registration and licensing requirements. That’s in the rule. More on that below, because on the Grand Strand it is not a formality.

Why can’t you do this on a second home?

Because the occupancy type you sign at closing decides which rules apply to you, and second home is a type that comes with a trade.

Fannie Mae’s B3-3.8-01 says rental income from a principal residence or a second home generally can’t be used to qualify. Separately, B2-1.1-01 says a property can still be delivered as a second home even if the lender sees rental income on it, as long as that income isn’t used for qualifying. So you can buy a place in Surfside as a second home, use it in July, rent it in October, and none of the October money helps you get approved.

There’s a second trap in the same rule. A second home can’t be subject to any agreement that gives a management firm control over the occupancy. A lot of oceanfront buildings hand you exactly that agreement at closing. If you sign it, the property isn’t a second home anymore, whatever the note says. The difference between a second home and an investment property is worth understanding before you pick, because occupancy is a term of the note and getting it wrong on purpose is mortgage fraud.

What if you’ve never been a landlord?

Then the income offsets the payment and stops there. It can’t raise your qualifying income at all.

B3-3.8-01 says a lender may only use positive rental income as qualifying income when the borrower has at least 12 months of property management experience. With less than that, or none, the rental income can only offset the payment on that property. Experience is proven with a tax return, Schedule 1 and Schedule E, supporting 365 fair rental days.

Stack that with the 50 percent factor and the picture is clear. A first-time investor buying a nightly rental in Garden City should plan on the property carrying itself in the file and not one dollar more. And if the math comes out negative, that negative number goes into your debt-to-income ratio regardless of how much landlord history you have. Debt-to-income, or DTI, is just your monthly obligations measured against your monthly income.

Can you buy a short-term rental with an FHA loan?

No. FHA is for a home you live in, and HUD makes you sign that promise.

Form HUD-92561, the Borrower’s Contract with Respect to Hotel and Transient Use of Property, has the borrower agree not to rent the property for transient or hotel purposes. That same form defines transient as any rental for a period less than 30 days, or any rental where occupants get customary hotel services like room service, maid service, laundered linens or bell service. Weekly beach rentals sit squarely inside that definition.

FHA’s rental income guidance in Mortgagee Letter 2023-17, dated October 16, 2023, closes the other door too: rental comparables can’t include properties rented for hotel or transient purposes or for periods less than 30 days.

Will the building even allow it?

This is where Grand Strand deals die, and it has nothing to do with your income.

Fannie Mae’s B4-2.1-03, updated August 5, 2026, makes a whole category of projects ineligible for conventional financing. A project is out if the association is licensed as a hotel, motel, resort or hospitality entity, if the project is primarily transient in nature, if it offers registration services, daily or short-term unit rentals, or daily cleaning, or if the legal documents require rental pooling or profit sharing with the association. Voluntary rental-pooling and revenue-sharing agreements that restrict occupancy count too. So does being professionally managed by a hotel or resort company that facilitates short-term rentals, and so does carrying a hotel rating on a booking site.

That list describes a real share of the oceanfront inventory between Little River and Garden City. When a building falls in it, agency financing is off the table no matter how the loan is structured, and a DSCR loan on a Grand Strand rental is usually the next conversation. DSCR loans are business-purpose investment loans that sit outside the ability-to-repay framework at 12 CFR 1026.43, which is why they can look at the property’s cash flow instead of your pay stubs.

Is the rental legal at that address?

Check before you write the offer, not after.

Short-term rental is regulated by zoning district here, not by the county line. The City of Myrtle Beach does not permit short-term rentals in its residential R zones and does permit them in the Residential Multifamily Visitor zone, with a small number of grandfathered properties. Their Zoning Division takes those questions at 843-918-1179. In unincorporated Horry County, the Planning and Zoning Department will tell you a parcel’s zoning if you give them the tax map number. North Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach each run their own rules, so ask the city the property actually sits in.

Zoning, licensing and rental ordinances are legal questions. Talk to a real estate attorney about your specific address before you commit, because Fannie’s new rule now makes the answer part of your loan file rather than a side issue.

What I’d actually do

One thing, before anything else: confirm the property can legally be rented short-term at that address, in writing, from the city or county that governs it. Everything downstream depends on it. A perfect file on a property that can’t be rented is a second home purchase with none of the income you were counting on.

Once you have that answer, bring it to me with the address and I’ll run the numbers both ways, as an investment property with the 50 percent factor and as a second home with none of the income, so you can see what each one really buys you. Get pre-qualified and we’ll start there.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use Airbnb income to qualify for a mortgage in Myrtle Beach?

Yes, but only on a one-unit investment property, and only at half of the gross rent. Fannie Mae published section B3-3.8-03 on September 2, 2026, which counts short-term rental income at 50 percent of gross monthly rent and then subtracts the payment, taxes and insurance on that property. The rule becomes mandatory for loan applications dated on and after November 1, 2026, and lenders may apply it before then.

Can I use short-term rental income on a second home?

No. Fannie Mae B3-3.8-01 says rental income from a second home generally cannot be used to qualify. You can still rent the property out and deliver the loan as a second home under B2-1.1-01, as long as none of that income is used for qualifying. A second home also cannot be subject to an agreement giving a management firm control over occupancy.

Do I need landlord experience to use rental income?

You need at least 12 months of property management experience for positive rental income to count as qualifying income. With less than that, the income can only offset the payment on that property. Experience is documented with a tax return showing Schedule 1 and Schedule E supporting 365 fair rental days.

Can I buy a weekly beach rental with an FHA loan?

No. FHA borrowers sign Form HUD-92561, agreeing not to rent the property for transient or hotel purposes, and that form defines transient as any rental for a period less than 30 days. A weekly rental falls inside that definition.

Why do some Myrtle Beach condo buildings not qualify for a regular loan?

Fannie Mae section B4-2.1-03 makes projects ineligible when they operate like hotels. That includes associations licensed as hospitality entities, projects that are primarily transient in nature, buildings offering registration services or daily rentals or daily cleaning, mandatory rental pooling, and management by a hotel or resort company that facilitates short-term rentals. Many oceanfront buildings meet more than one of those descriptions.

About Travis Buis

Travis Buis is a loan officer with Elite Home Lending serving Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand, working with buyers across Horry and Georgetown counties. A good share of his week goes to investment and second-home financing in a market built on rentals, which means occupancy rules, rental income guidelines, condo project eligibility and the difference between what a building allows and what a lender will accept. He explains the mechanics first so you can decide, then handles the loan once you have. Get in touch.

Travis Buis, NMLS #1711446. Elite Home Lending, LLC — NMLS #2788023. Equal Housing Opportunity.

This article is for educational purposes only and is not a commitment to lend or an offer of credit. Program terms, rates, and eligibility standards are set by lenders, investors, and agencies and are subject to change without notice. Loan approval is subject to underwriting, credit approval, and property eligibility. Calculator results are estimates only. Nothing here is tax or legal advice — consult your CPA or attorney for your situation.