# Free Short-Term Rental Investment Spreadsheet & Financial Model (2026) > Most STR spreadsheets miss 30–40% of real operating costs. Download our free financial model with every expense line item, DSCR calculation, and scenario analysis built in — then learn when to graduate to a full analysis tool. Canonical: https://www.underwriteapp.com/blog/str-investment-spreadsheet-template Every STR investor starts with a spreadsheet. Purchase price, projected revenue, a few expenses, maybe a mortgage calculator — and the numbers look great. Then reality arrives. The cleaning costs are double what you estimated because they're per-stay, not monthly. The platform fees add up to $4,000–$8,000 a year. The furniture needs replacing after three seasons. And the "cash flow" you projected is actually a loss when you account for everything. The problem isn't spreadsheets. It's that most STR investment spreadsheets are built for long-term rentals. They model expenses the wrong way, miss entire cost categories, and make deals look 30–40% better than they are. This template fixes that. It includes every expense category a short-term rental actually incurs, calculates DSCR and cash-on-cash return correctly, and runs scenario analysis so you can see what happens when occupancy drops or rates soften. --- ## Why Most STR Spreadsheets Get It Wrong The core mistake is applying a long-term rental expense model to a short-term rental business. Here's what that looks like in practice: **Cleaning costs modeled as monthly.** A long-term rental gets cleaned when a tenant moves out — maybe once a year. An STR gets cleaned after every stay. A 3-bedroom property at $150 per turnover with three stays per week costs $23,400 a year in cleaning alone. Most templates have a single line item for "cleaning" with a monthly dollar amount. **Platform fees ignored or underestimated.** Airbnb charges hosts 3% of every booking. VRBO charges 5–8%. On a property generating $60,000 in gross revenue, that's $1,800–$4,800 per year that many templates don't include. **Furnishing treated as a one-time cost.** You'll furnish the property at purchase — typically $15,000–$40,000 depending on size and market positioning. But STR furniture gets harder use than residential. Expect a 3–5 year replacement cycle. A 7–10% annual furnishing reserve is standard practice. **Utilities assumed at long-term rental levels.** In an LTR, the tenant pays utilities. In an STR, you pay everything — electricity, gas, water, internet, streaming services, and often cable. STR utility bills run $300–$600/month in most markets. **STR-specific insurance missing entirely.** A standard homeowner's policy doesn't cover short-term rental activity. STR-specific coverage costs $1,500–$5,000/year — roughly 2–3× the cost of a standard policy. When you add up these omissions, the gap between a typical free spreadsheet and reality is significant. A deal that shows $15,000 in annual cash flow on a basic template might actually produce $3,000 — or lose money. --- ## The Template: What's Inside Our free STR investment spreadsheet is a Google Sheets template organized into four sections. Here's what each section covers and why it matters. ### Section 1: Acquisition & Financing | Field | What to Enter | Why It Matters | |-------|---------------|----------------| | Purchase price | Full purchase price | Basis for all return calculations | | Down payment (%) | Typically 20–25% for DSCR loans | Determines total cash invested | | Closing costs (%) | 2–4% of purchase price | Often forgotten in cash-on-cash calculations | | Interest rate | Current DSCR rates: 6.0–7.5% (2026) | Drives monthly debt service | | Loan term | Typically 30 years | Affects monthly payment amount | | Furnishing budget | $15,000–$40,000 depending on size | Part of total cash invested — not an operating expense | **Key point:** Your total cash invested includes down payment + closing costs + furnishing. This is the denominator in your cash-on-cash return calculation. Leaving out furnishing inflates your return by 15–25%. ### Section 2: Revenue Projections | Field | What to Enter | Typical Range | |-------|---------------|---------------| | Average Daily Rate (ADR) | Conservative estimate from comps | Market-dependent | | Occupancy Rate (%) | Annual average after seasonal adjustment | 55–75% for most markets | | Gross Revenue | Auto-calculated: ADR × Occupancy × 365 | — | **Be conservative on revenue.** New listings typically run 10–20% below established competitor ADR in the first year while building reviews. And occupancy projections from revenue estimation tools often reflect top-performer data, not median outcomes. Model your first year at 60–70% of the tool's ADR estimate to see if the deal still works. ### Section 3: Operating Expenses (Complete) This is where most templates fall short. The spreadsheet includes every STR expense category with realistic default ranges: **Fixed Costs** | Expense | How to Estimate | Typical Range | |---------|-----------------|---------------| | Property taxes | County assessor records | 0.5–2.5% of assessed value/year | | STR insurance | Get a quote from Proper, Steadily, or similar | $1,500–$5,000/year | | HOA fees | If applicable — verify STR is permitted | $0–$800/month | | Mortgage (PITI) | Auto-calculated from financing inputs | — | | Utilities (baseline) | Minimum when vacant | $50–$150/month | **Variable Costs (Scale With Bookings)** | Expense | How to Estimate | Typical Range | |---------|-----------------|---------------| | Cleaning (per turnover) | Get local quotes; multiply by estimated stays | $75–$350/turnover | | Platform commissions | 3% Airbnb, 5–8% VRBO | 3–8% of gross revenue | | Utilities (variable) | Above baseline, scales with occupancy | $150–$450/month at normal occupancy | | Consumable supplies | Toiletries, coffee, paper goods, cleaning supplies | $50–$150/month | | Maintenance & repairs | Budget 1–2% of property value annually | Varies | | Property management | If using a manager: 15–25% of gross revenue | $0 if self-managed | | Furnishing reserve | Annual set-aside for replacement | 7–10% of gross revenue | | Licensing & permits | STR permits, business licenses, TOT registration | $200–$2,000/year | | Accounting & tax prep | STR-specific CPA costs | $500–$2,000/year | **The template auto-calculates total operating expenses and your expense ratio** (total expenses ÷ gross revenue). A realistic STR expense ratio is 45–60%. If your model shows less than 40%, you're probably missing something. ### Section 4: Returns & Analysis The spreadsheet auto-calculates: - **Net Operating Income (NOI):** Gross revenue minus all operating expenses (excluding mortgage) - **DSCR:** NOI ÷ Annual debt service — the number your lender cares about - **Pre-tax cash flow:** NOI minus mortgage payments - **Cash-on-cash return:** Pre-tax cash flow ÷ Total cash invested - **Break-even occupancy:** The occupancy rate at which the property covers all costs including debt service It also includes a **scenario analysis tab** where you can adjust ADR and occupancy downward to stress-test the deal. If your cash flow goes negative at 55% occupancy, you need to understand that risk before making an offer. --- ## Using the Template for DSCR Loan Pre-Qualification If you're financing with a DSCR loan — and most STR investors are — the spreadsheet helps you present your deal to lenders in the format they expect. DSCR lenders evaluate based on the property's ability to service debt, not your personal income. The two numbers they care about most: 1. **DSCR ≥ 1.25** — Most lenders require this minimum. Some non-QM lenders will go to 1.0 with strong credit and larger down payments. 2. **Revenue documentation** — Lenders typically want either 12 months of actual STR income (from an existing listing) or a market analysis from a revenue estimation tool (AirDNA, Rabbu, or similar) for a new acquisition. The template's DSCR calculation mirrors how lenders underwrite: NOI (with complete expenses) divided by full debt service. If your template shows 1.25+ with realistic inputs, you have a viable deal to bring to your lender. If it shows 1.10, you know you need to adjust — larger down payment, lower purchase price, or different market. **Important:** Lenders often apply their own haircut to revenue projections (typically 75–90% of the estimate). Run the template at 80% of your revenue projection to see what the lender will see. --- ## What a Spreadsheet Can't Do A well-built spreadsheet solves the expense modeling problem. It does not solve three other problems that determine whether a deal is actually good: **1. Comparable property research.** Your ADR and occupancy estimates need to come from somewhere. Manually researching comps means scrolling through Airbnb listings, guessing at booking calendars, and hoping the properties you're comparing are actually similar. The accuracy of your spreadsheet depends entirely on the quality of these inputs — and spreadsheets can't generate them. **2. Market-level supply and demand.** Is the market you're evaluating getting saturated? Are new STR listings outpacing demand growth? Are regulations tightening? A spreadsheet models a single property in isolation. It can't tell you whether the market supports your assumptions next year, much less in year five. **3. Regulatory risk assessment.** STR regulations change constantly. A deal that pencils today in a market that bans short-term rentals next year isn't a good deal. Spreadsheets have no mechanism for flagging regulatory environments. These limitations don't make spreadsheets useless — they make spreadsheets the starting point, not the final word. --- ## When to Graduate From a Spreadsheet A spreadsheet works well when you're evaluating one or two deals casually and you have time to manually research comps, estimate revenue, and update inputs by hand. It starts breaking down when: - **You're evaluating multiple properties** and spending hours re-entering data for each one - **You need reliable revenue comps** but don't have time to manually scrub listing data - **You're comparing across markets** and need standardized analysis - **You need to move fast** on a deal and can't afford a two-hour modeling session - **You're presenting to a lender or partner** and need analysis that looks professional and is defensible At that point, you need a tool that automates the parts a spreadsheet can't: pulling comparable properties, estimating revenue from market data, and generating a complete analysis from a single property URL. That's what Underwrite does. You paste a Zillow or Redfin listing URL, and the platform generates a full STR investment analysis — revenue projections from comparable properties, complete operating expense modeling, DSCR calculation, cash-on-cash return, and scenario analysis. The same analysis this spreadsheet produces, but with automated inputs instead of manual guesses. --- ## Download the Template The spreadsheet is free. No strings attached — you get a complete STR financial model with every expense category, DSCR calculation, scenario analysis, and a worked example to guide you. **What you'll get:** - Google Sheets template (view-only — make a copy to edit) - Every expense category from this guide pre-loaded with realistic defaults - Auto-calculated NOI, DSCR, cash-on-cash return, and break-even occupancy - Scenario analysis tab for stress-testing ADR and occupancy drops - A worked example using a $500,000 property at current 2026 DSCR loan rates Enter your email below to get instant access to the template. --- *The spreadsheet handles the basics. Underwrite handles the rest — paste a Zillow URL to see the difference. Your first analysis is free.* [**Try Underwrite →**](/)