The MRI Blog
Rental investing intelligence, with the math shown
DSCR loans, STR financing, market selection, deal analysis. Every post is stat-backed and links to a tool you can run your own numbers in.
The LA 2028 Olympics Airbnb Play: A 2-Year Runway
The LA28 venue map (SoFi, the Coliseum, Long Beach, Sepulveda Basin), what Paris 2024 hosts actually earned, buy-now-vs-2027 math with DSCR financing on projected revenue, and the neighborhoods with Olympic upside plus a year-round fallback.
Read the guide →Airbnb and the 2026 World Cup in SoCal: Where Hosts Are Making Their Year
SoFi Stadium hosts 8 World Cup matches June 12–July 10, 2026 — including two USA group games and a quarterfinal. The real demand radius, realistic rate multiples, minimum-stay strategy, LA's home-sharing rules, and the mid-event moves hosts can still make.
Turning Apartments into Airbnbs: Arbitrage, Condotels, and What Actually Pencils
Every way to run apartments as short-term rentals — rental arbitrage with honest math, the corporate-housing middle path, condotels, and buying 2–4 unit multifamily with DSCR financing — plus the HOA reality and a side-by-side comparison of what each path returns.
DSCR Loans in California: The 2026 Investor's Guide
How to get a DSCR loan in California despite brutal rent-to-price ratios — where deals still pencil, Prop 13 tax math, STR rules, LLC vesting, and a worked $750K duplex example.
DSCR Loans in Florida: The 2026 Investor's Guide
Why Florida is the busiest DSCR loan market in the country, how exploded insurance premiums quietly kill 1.2 DSCRs, post-Surfside condo traps, STR market data, and a worked example with a real insurance line.
Event-Driven STR Markets: Coachella, F1, the Masters — and the Math Behind Them
How recurring mega-events — Coachella, the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Masters, the Kentucky Derby — multiply STR rates for known weeks, how to underwrite base year + event premium, why lenders ignore the premium, and the risks when an event moves.
How to Start an Airbnb Business in 2026: From First Search to First Guest
A step-by-step operator's guide to launching a short-term rental — market selection, buy vs. arbitrage vs. house-hack, the real startup budget, permits, financing paths, and the first-90-days pricing playbook.
Managing an Airbnb Remotely: The Systems That Run 40 Units Without You
The remote-hosting playbook from a 40-unit operator — the tech stack, the cleaner relationship, the vendor bench, messaging automation, the monthly owner review, and the honest math on hiring a property manager.
Converting Motels into Airbnbs: The Boutique-Hospitality Play
Why exterior-corridor motels are the conversion target — price per key vs. per-unit STR cost, the zoning superpower of by-right transient occupancy, renovation budgets per key, staffing thresholds, the commercial/SBA financing reality, and boutique-hotel exit comps.
Property Taxes by City: The Hidden DSCR Killer (2026 Data)
Effective property tax rates across 15 DSCR investing metros, the PITIA math showing how a 1.5-point tax gap moves DSCR from 1.33 to 1.10, and the assessment rules that decide your real bill.
Guest Screening and House Rules That Protect Your STR (Without Killing Bookings)
An operator's risk playbook — the real party-risk signals, ID verification options, deposits vs. damage waivers vs. AirCover, house rules that hold up, sensor disclosure, neighbor relations, and the incident playbook.
STR Pricing Strategy: Seasonality, Orphan Nights, and the Occupancy Trap
A practitioner's pricing framework for short-term rentals — base-rate anchoring from comps, seasonality curves, weekday/weekend deltas, orphan-night automation, min-stay strategy, event pricing, and why 95% occupancy means you're underpriced.
The STR Turnover System: How Top Hosts Never Get a Cleanliness Complaint
The complete turnover playbook — why cleanliness drives ranking, the turnover window math, the room-by-room checklist, 3x linen par levels, photo verification, what a turn should cost, and the QA audit cadence.
Tax Benefits of Real Estate Investing: Depreciation, Cost Seg, and the STR Loophole (2026)
How depreciation, cost segregation, bonus depreciation, the short-term rental loophole, REPS, and 1031 exchanges actually work — mechanism-level, with the material participation tests spelled out.
DSCR Loans: The Complete 2026 Guide for Rental Investors
What DSCR loans are, how lenders calculate the ratio, current pricing logic (10Y Treasury + spread), qualification requirements, prepayment penalties, and when a DSCR loan beats conventional financing.
The Best DSCR Markets in 2026: 15 Cities Ranked by the Numbers
Data-ranked list of the best US metros for DSCR loan investing in 2026 — rent-to-price ratios, rent growth, and property taxes scored 0-100 — plus why Sun Belt darlings now rank near the bottom.
How to Calculate DSCR: Formula, Worked Examples, and the Mistakes That Kill Deals
The exact DSCR formula lenders use (rent ÷ PITIA), three worked examples at different price points, what counts as income, and the five calculation mistakes that get loans repriced or denied.
DSCR vs. Conventional Loans for Investment Property: Full Cost Comparison
Side-by-side comparison of DSCR and conventional investment-property loans: rates, down payments, qualification, property limits, LLC vesting, and a worked 10-year cost analysis showing when each wins.
STR Financing Guide: How to Get a Loan for an Airbnb or Vacation Rental
Every way to finance a short-term rental in 2026 — DSCR loans qualified on projected revenue, second-home loans, conventional, and portfolio options — plus how lenders count Airbnb income and what kills STR loan files.
STR Regulations: The 9 Things to Check Before You Buy a Short-Term Rental
The complete pre-offer regulation checklist for Airbnb investors: permits and caps, zoning, primary-residence rules, HOA covenants, occupancy taxes, grandfathering traps, and how regulation risk changes financing.
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