Pella, Iowa DSCR Financing: This Town's Own $20,593

Pella is a Dutch-heritage town of roughly 10,455 people in Marion County, Iowa, about forty minutes southeast of Des Moines on IA-163 — close enough to the metro that guests regularly drive in from there, and far enough that its short-term rental market runs on its own numbers, not Des Moines's. A DSCR file for a Pella parcel needs to start with Pella's own extract, not a metro median and not a neighboring county's smaller figure.

AirROI's extract for Pella, vintage August 2025 through July 2026, prints a typical year of $20,593 across 56 listings, with an average daily rate of $191, occupancy of 38.7 percent, and RevPAR of $78. Oskaloosa, an adjacent town in neighboring Mahaska County, publishes its own figure of $13,204 across 23 listings — a genuinely different market under a genuinely different county government, and one that keeps showing up blended into Pella packets when a file needs the two towns split apart.

This page does not build a coverage ratio or guess a purchase price. It names the published Pella year, keeps Oskaloosa's figure on its own labeled line, and identifies the two local desks — city and county — a lender or buyer would need to confirm before underwriting a Pella short-term rental. This is not legal or financial advice. This is not legal advice.

DSCR Starts on $20,593

A DSCR file for a Pella parcel starts with the town's published typical year: $20,593 across 56 listings, drawn from the August 2025 through July 2026 AirROI window. August is the single peak month, with May and September rounding out the top three — May's presence on that list tracks with Tulip Time, the town's signature festival, which falls on the first Thursday through Saturday in May. January is the softest month on the calendar, and a vacancy haircut applied to a Pella file should name January specifically rather than treating the winter months as uniformly slow.

Composition on the sample: average stay is 4.2 nights, booked about 62 days ahead. Entire-home listings make up 92.9 percent of the sample, Superhost status covers 78.6 percent, and professionally managed listings account for 21.4 percent. Eleven listings, about 19.6 percent, set a minimum stay of 30 nights or longer. None of that composition detail changes the $20,593 figure — it describes who's earning it and how the market behaves around that number.

Why Oskaloosa's $13,204 Doesn't Transfer

Oskaloosa sits in Mahaska County, a different county government from Pella's Marion County, and its extract prints a meaningfully smaller typical year: $13,204 across 23 listings, with 35.1 percent occupancy on the same vintage — close to Pella's 38.7 percent occupancy, but on a much smaller sample and a different revenue base entirely. Splitting the difference between Pella's $20,593 and Oskaloosa's $13,204 to produce a 'south-of-Des-Moines' blended number describes neither town's actual market.

The two towns also moved in different directions this year. Oskaloosa's revenue is down 44.4 percent year over year on its 23-listing sample — a steep decline on a small base — while Pella's is down a comparatively milder 11.8 percent. Averaging those two trajectories into one figure obscures that Oskaloosa is currently the far weaker of the two markets, not a source of missing upside Pella can borrow from.

Two Halls Sit With This Deed

City of Pella records run through City Clerk Mandy Smith, with Deputy Clerk Heidi Lubben, at 825 Broadway Street, Pella, IA 50219 — the correct desk for deed and city-level records. Marion County Auditor Jake Grandia, at 214 E. Main Street, Knoxville, IA 50138, handles county records and elections; that's a county-records desk, not a confirmed short-term rental permitting window on its own. A dedicated city or county STR permit has not been confirmed on a primary page as of this pass, and that gap should be flagged as unknown in any packet rather than assumed either way.

Iowa hotel and motel tax remittance is a separate obligation from land-use permission — paying the tax doesn't confirm the use is legally permitted at a given address. Confirm both the permitting status and the remittance requirement directly with the relevant desk before a lender packet assumes either one. This is not legal advice.

A Year Down 11.8 Percent, With Supply Up Sharply

Pella's typical-year revenue moved down 11.8 percent year over year on the 56-listing sample, while active supply grew 36.6 percent over the same window — a meaningfully larger jump in competing listings than the revenue decline itself. More listings and a softer typical year moving together is worth disclosing plainly in a packet rather than presenting $20,593 as if the market were simply steady or rising.

This is one year of direction on one vintage, not confirmed evidence of a longer trend, and this page won't stretch it further than the extract supports. What it does mean is that a lender comparing this year's figure to next year's renewal should expect the possibility of continued softening if supply keeps growing faster than demand does.

By contrast, Oskaloosa's decline of 44.4 percent on its smaller 23-listing sample is a steeper drop on a thinner base — the kind of number that moves sharply on a small sample size and shouldn't be read as a preview of what Pella's larger, more stable sample is likely to do next. Two markets moving down in the same general direction doesn't mean they're moving for the same reasons or at the same pace, and a packet should.

Festival Traffic and Visitor Landmarks Aren't Revenue

Tulip Time, held the first Thursday through Saturday in May every year (May 7 through 9 for 2026), the Vermeer Windmill built in 2002, the town square, and Lake Red Rock — Iowa's largest lake by surface area — are genuine reasons guests search out Pella specifically. None of them is a PITI figure, an insurance line, or a coverage ratio. May's presence in the peak-three months already reflects whatever lift Tulip Time provides; there's no separate festival-attendance line to add on top of the $20,593 typical year.

Lake Red Rock recreation plausibly explains part of the August-peak pattern, since some lake-adjacent parcels sit outside city limits entirely and would fall under different jurisdiction than a downtown Pella address. Visitor traffic explains demand. It doesn't belong in the numerator.

This distinction matters most in marketing copy, where it's tempting and legitimate to lead with Tulip Time or the windmill because that's genuinely what draws a guest to book. The same enthusiasm has no place in a finance file, where the only honest inputs are the ones the extract actually printed. A packet that cites festival headcount as if it were incremental booked revenue is asking a lender to underwrite a tourism narrative rather than a number.

Eleven 30-Plus Settings Aren't a Filled January

About 19.6 percent of the sample, eleven of 56 listings, sets a minimum stay of 30 nights or longer. That's a real share of the market, but January — the sample's softest month, alongside February and March in the low stretch — isn't quietly filled through those long-stay settings. The most common minimum-stay setting across the sample is still one night, and actual average stay length is 4.2 nights. A 30-plus setting is a booking-policy choice available to some hosts, not proof of occupied winter months.

If an underwriter wants to model a long-stay case specifically, the honest inputs are the ones the extract actually shows: 4.2-night average stay, 62-day lead time, and the eleven-listing long-stay share — plus the subject property's own actuals, if they exist. A manufactured monthly occupancy figure the extract never printed doesn't belong in that case.

Iowa's hotel and motel tax remittance applies to stays under thirty days; a longer minimum-stay setting can shift which tax desk applies, but it doesn't change the published typical-year figure the way a monthly-yield fantasy would. Whatever tax treatment applies to a specific booking length is a separate confirmation from the revenue underwriting itself, and the two shouldn't be conflated in a lender packet.

Why the Blend Keeps Happening

Pella and Oskaloosa are close enough on a map — a twenty-minute drive apart, both south-central Iowa towns of similar small-town character — that a broker or lender assembling a quick comp set can reach for whichever figure surfaces first without confirming which county the parcel actually sits in. Both towns draw some overlap in visitor traffic from the Des Moines metro, and both get lumped into loose 'south of Des Moines' marketing language that makes them feel more interchangeable than their actual numbers support.

The habit tends to start upstream of the finance file. A listing description that markets a Pella property with vague 'south-central Iowa' language, rather than naming Tulip Time, the Vermeer Windmill, or the town square specifically, trains whoever eventually builds the DSCR packet to think of Pella and its neighbors as one loosely defined region rather than two towns under two different county governments with two very different revenue trajectories this year.

Winterset and Other Names That Don't Belong in This File

Winterset, another small Iowa town sometimes mentioned in loose regional comp sets, has no published typical-year figure on this market sample at all — there's no legitimate number to borrow from it, guessed or otherwise. A note that needs a figure the extract simply doesn't print for a given town shouldn't lean on an estimated substitute pulled from a different market's general reputation.

The same discipline applies to Des Moines itself. Guests originate from the metro — it's the leading drive-market context for Pella bookings — but origin isn't jurisdiction, and a Des Moines-area median has no legitimate place in a Pella-specific file. The zoning, the deed, and the revenue extract all belong to Pella and Marion County, not to wherever the typical guest happens to be driving in from.

What a Lender Packet Should Actually Carry

A defensible Pella DSCR file carries the $20,593 typical year on its 56-listing sample, with ADR, occupancy, and RevPAR labeled to the same August 2025 through July 2026 vintage. It carries the 11.8 percent year-over-year decline alongside the 36.6 percent supply growth, names August, May, and September as peak months and January as the hole, and cites both City Clerk Mandy Smith at 825 Broadway Street and County Auditor Jake Grandia at 214 E. Main Street as the correct desks — with the unconfirmed permit status flagged honestly rather than assumed.

It also carries the composition facts useful for judging how much weight to put on the typical-year figure: 4.2-night average stay, 62-day lead time, 78.6 percent Superhost share, and 21.4 percent professional management. None of those add to $20,593 — they describe the market that number came from.

It carries Oskaloosa's $13,204 figure, if cited at all, only as clearly labeled neighboring-county context, never blended into the working number. If the subject address has its own trailing twelve months of actual bookings, those actuals outrank the typical-year figure and should anchor the file instead of the town-wide sample.

Every figure cited in this file — the typical year, the peak months, the composition data — traces back to the same single AirROI extract and vintage, which is what makes the numbers here internally consistent rather than a patchwork pulled from different sources at different times.

Related Reading

More Pella, Iowa reading already live on Crest & Cove.

• Pella STR Report 2026: $20,593 on 56 listings, Not Des Moines

• Market a Pella Stay: Tulip Time, Not a Des Moines blend

• Pella STR Rules: City Clerk Versus Marion County Desk

• Pella Shoulder Season: August Peak Against January Hole

• Pella Remote Stays: Eleven listings Already Set 30-Plus

• DIY vs Hire in Pella: Andrea and Evolve on the Extract

• Who Books a Pella Rental: Tulip Time Versus Red Rock

• Buying a Pella Rental: $20,593, Not an Oskaloosa blend

• Pella Tourism Data: Festival Is Demand, Not Occupancy

• Complete Visitor's Guide to Pella Iowa Square and Lake

• What It Costs to Start a Legal Pella Iowa STR Stay

• Pella City Desk vs Marion County Auditor STR Desks

• pella-vs-winterset-identity-only

Frequently Asked Questions

What revenue figure should anchor a Pella, Iowa DSCR file?

$20,593 in typical annual revenue across 56 listings, from AirROI's August 2025 through July 2026 extract, with an ADR of $191, occupancy of 38.7 percent, and RevPAR of $78. This is Marion County's own Pella figure and shouldn't be replaced with a Des Moines-area median or a neighboring county's number.

Can Oskaloosa's $13,204 figure be blended with Pella's to build a rent roll?

No. Oskaloosa sits in Mahaska County and prints its own $13,204 typical year across 23 listings, with 35.1 percent occupancy — a genuinely different sample down 44.4 percent year over year. Splitting the difference between the two towns' figures produces a number that describes neither Pella's nor Oskaloosa's actual market.

Who are the correct contacts for confirming Pella deed and permit questions?

City of Pella Clerk Mandy Smith, with Deputy Clerk Heidi Lubben, at 825 Broadway Street, Pella, IA 50219, handles city-level records. Marion County Auditor Jake Grandia, at 214 E. Main Street, Knoxville, IA 50138, handles county records and elections — not a confirmed short-term rental permit desk on its own.

Is there a confirmed Pella short-term rental permit as of this pass?

No. A dedicated city or county STR permit hasn't been confirmed on a primary page this pass, so that gap should be flagged as unknown rather than assumed either way. Iowa hotel and motel tax remittance is a separate tax obligation and doesn't substitute for land-use permission.

What does the minus 11.8 percent year-over-year figure mean for underwriting?

Pella's revenue moved down 11.8 percent on the 56-listing sample for this vintage, alongside active supply up 36.6 percent over the same period — more listings competing for a smaller revenue pool. That's one year of direction, not confirmed evidence of a longer decline, and it shouldn't be hidden behind the headline $20,593 figure.

Do the eleven listings with a 30-plus-night minimum indicate January is already booked?

No. About 19.6 percent of the sample sets a 30-plus-night minimum, but that's a booking-policy setting, not proof of actual occupancy. The sample's real stay length is 4.2 nights with a 62-day lead time, and January remains the market's softest month regardless of how many listings offer long-stay options.

Do Tulip Time or the Vermeer Windmill count as revenue evidence in a DSCR file?

No. Tulip Time (the first Thursday through Saturday in May), the Vermeer Windmill, the town square, and Lake Red Rock are genuine visitor draws that explain demand, but none of them is a PITI, insurance, or coverage figure. The $20,593 revenue figure is what belongs in the underwriting year, not festival attendance.

What does the host composition look like in the Pella sample?

Entire-home listings make up 92.9 percent of the sample, Superhost status covers 78.6 percent, and professionally managed listings account for 21.4 percent. That describes who currently operates in this market; it doesn't change the underlying $20,593 revenue figure a lender should use.

Should a Pella DSCR file ever reference Winterset's numbers?

No. Winterset doesn't have a published typical-year figure on this market sample, so there's no legitimate number to borrow from it. A note that needs a figure the extract didn't actually print for a given town shouldn't be built on an assumed or estimated substitute.

What should a complete Pella lender packet include?

The town's own $20,593 typical year on its 56-listing sample with ADR, occupancy, and RevPAR labeled to the same vintage; the 11.8 percent year-over-year decline and 36.6 percent supply growth; August, May, and September named as peak months with January as the hole; both the city clerk's and county auditor's contacts; and Oskaloosa's figure, if cited at all, clearly labeled as a separate county's market.

Work with Crest & Cove Creative

Pella listings sometimes get priced against a blended Oskaloosa-and-Des-Moines figure, when this town's own extract runs its own honest $20,593 year with a real recent decline. Name the failure mode the guest can check on the listing.

We help Pella hosts keep listing and financing copy anchored to this town's own numbers, with neighboring-county figures left labeled and out of the story. Reach out at crestcove.co or (256) 998-7502. Send the live listing draft and the facts you can actually cite.

Reach out at crestcove.co or (256) 998-7502.