Hey @Shauna Adair. Glad you posted this question! Lot's of good info on here and smart to seek advice before doing something like this. (I see you're posting from Nappanee, IN, I'm from Indianapolis originally! #hoosiers haha)
My response will echo many of the things @Julie McCoy, @Robin Searle, and @Michael Vialpando have said. I have two STRs and one of them is an owner-occupied property where I live. I converted the upstairs into the STR unit. The main reason I felt comfortable making that investment and move was due to how much travel and tourism traffic there is here in Nashville. It has been and still is going nuts with growth and development, so I knew the demand for Short Term Rentals is here. With that being said I did a LOT of research for data about what kind of metrics other Airbnbs were getting in my area (I also used AirDNA as well as a resource called Everbooked). So far its been a great move, but it's because the market supports it here.
I like your line of thinking but a few things concern me that have been mentioned.
First, I will re-ask what Julie asked about finding a lender who will take a long term lease in consideration for off-setting the mortgage payment/DTI? That is pretty standard practice from what I know, so I would ask if you've tried working with a different lender?
Second, it seems like with where you're located there may not be the same demand to support a Short Term Rental model. There needs to be built in traffic to your area where lots of people travel to already. That being said, I don't know your area the way you do and this could be more of a moot point than what I'm seeing it as. But take that into serious consideration before going any further.
Third, I agree with Julie and Robin that it seems like even with some decent traffic needing to rely on the STR to simply make the deal work may be a bit of stretch and would put a lot of pressure on you and your husband. So even if it is working, there still may be that underlying stress/concern that you need to keep up with it.
Also, one things I'll throw in here as well is that you'd probably need a few more nights than what you're calculating due to putting money aside for taxes and expenses. Whether its hotel tax, or just simply income tax and then putting money aside for repairs if things get broken, new towels, sheets, etc. So I do some research into what your costs of operating are going to be and then factor that into what your occupancy rate needs to be.
Like I said, I love your line of thinking and would love to see this work for you! But those things I just mentioned are the top level concerns I have and see right off the bat from my experience. Good luck!
