What is short-term rental underwriting, and why does it matter?
Underwriting is the process of analyzing whether a property will be a good investment. For short-term rentals, this means projecting revenue, estimating costs, and understanding your expected returns on a vacation rental before making a purchase. With SummerOS, you can build a full Airbnb pro forma in minutes using real market data—so you can make confident decisions without relying on guesswork or outdated averages.
Who should use SummerOS underwriting tools?
SummerOS is designed for short-term rental professionals of all types. Whether you’re a solo investor evaluating a new acquisition, a co-host helping owners understand potential returns, or a property manager building onboarding processes for new owners, SummerOS gives you the clarity and tools to make smarter investment decisions and better understand your potential revenue on a property.
How do these projections connect to real performance later?
This is where SummerOS shines. After a property is live, you can track its actual performance using our real-time analytics tools. Your original projections are saved, so you can see how real revenue, occupancy, and profitability compare. This helps you refine your assumptions, guide pricing adjustments, and improve your future underwriting.
What financial inputs can I plug into SummerOS?
SummerOS lets you plug in all the critical variables that drive your deal: purchase price, furnishing budgets, operating costs, capital expenses (CapEx), and more. From there, it calculates key return metrics like ROI, IRR, cap rate, and cash-on-cash return—so you get a complete picture of the investment’s financial potential.
Do I need a financial background to use SummerOS?
Not at all. SummerOS is built to be intuitive and approachable—even if you’ve never built a financial model before. The platform guides you through each step with a clean interface and helpful defaults, so you can generate professional-quality results without a finance background or spreadsheet wizardry. (Promise.)
How does SummerOS improve short-term rental underwriting compared to traditional tools?
Traditional underwriting tools—like spreadsheets or broad real estate calculators—are slow, manual, and not designed for the unique dynamics of short-term rentals. They rely on outdated formulas or generic market assumptions that don’t reflect what’s actually happening in your target area. SummerOS replaces all of that with a streamlined, purpose-built platform for STR professionals. It combines real-time local data with customizable competitive sets that allow you to benchmark your property against real, high-performing listings nearby. You can filter comp sets by bedroom count, property type, amenities, and more—ensuring your revenue projections are based on apples-to-apples comparisons. From there, SummerOS automatically calculates key financial metrics like ROI, IRR, and cash flow—giving you accurate, data-backed insights in minutes, not hours. It’s the smarter, faster way to underwrite STR deals with clarity and confidence.
Is this useful for owner onboarding or growth conversations?
Yes, and it's one of the most popular use cases. You can use SummerOS to build a compelling, data-backed case for why an owner should work with you—or what their property could earn as an STR. The combination of clear projections, real comps, and polished term sheets helps you win trust and close deals faster.
How much does SummerOS cost?
SummerOS starts at $15/month per property, with custom plans for larger portfolios. Every subscription includes access to our full suite of tools—including revenue forecasting, ROI and IRR modeling, comp set analysis, and downloadable term sheets. That means you’re not just paying for another dashboard—you’re investing in a smarter, faster way to underwrite short-term rental deals, evaluate performance, and make confident, data-driven decisions. Whether you're analyzing a new acquisition or helping owners understand their property's potential, SummerOS gives you the insights you need, all in one place.
