Rental arbitrage
Also called Airbnb arbitrage, STR arbitrage, rent-to-rent, Rent analysis. Last reviewed Oct 21, 2026 by Jeremy Werden
Rental arbitrage means leasing a home from a landlord and listing it on Airbnb or Vrbo, keeping what's left after rent and costs. In BNBCalc it's the Rent analysis type, which subtracts your rent instead of a mortgage and shows how many days of cash flow it takes to earn back what you spent to furnish and set it up.
Cash flow = revenue − operating expenses − net effective rent
How does BNBCalc analyze a rental arbitrage deal?
Pick Rent as the analysis type and enter the monthly rent. BNBCalc estimates the home's short-term rental revenue from nearby comps, the same way it does for any analysis, and then swaps the mortgage for your lease:
- Net Effective Rent is your rent after any free months or rebates the landlord gives you: (monthly rent × lease months − concessions) ÷ lease months. On a 12-month lease at $2,500 a month with one month free, that's ($30,000 − $2,500) ÷ 12 = $2,292 a month.
- Cash Investment is your furnishing and renovations plus Setup Costs, which cover the application fee ($100 to start) and the security deposit.
- Profit (Cash Flow) is revenue minus operating expenses minus net effective rent.
Instead of a cap rate, the returns show Cash on Cash Return and Payback Period Days, the number of days of cash flow it takes to earn back your cash investment: cash investment ÷ yearly cash flow × 365. If the cash flow is zero or negative, the deal never pays back, and BNBCalc shows 0.
You can also start one from BNBCalc's Airbnb arbitrage calculator page: enter the address and pick Rent as the type.
Is Airbnb rental arbitrage profitable?
Run the address as a Rent analysis in BNBCalc to find out, because it's only profitable where the home's short-term rental revenue clears the rent with enough room for cleaning, platform fees, utilities and the slow months. Then look at three things: whether the yearly cash flow is positive, whether the Seasonality chart's slow months leave you short of rent, and how the payback period compares with the length of your lease.
That last one's easy to miss. If the payback period runs longer than the lease, you won't have earned back your furnishing and setup costs by the time the lease ends, so you'd be counting on a renewal to come out ahead.
What should I check before signing an arbitrage lease?
Make sure your lease lets you sublet to short-term guests, because many don't, and get the landlord's permission in writing. Local short-term rental rules apply too, so check them for the address before you sign.