Massanutten, over the mountain in Rockingham County, draws a lot of buyers who want a four-season getaway that pays for part of itself. In 2026 there is a new step: an annual county permit for every short-term rental operator.
Massanutten is in Rockingham County.
If it’s mostly your family’s place with occasional renting, that’s usually a second home. Under Fannie Mae’s guidelines, a second home must be under your exclusive control, can’t be primarily operated as a rental and generally can’t use rental income to qualify. If renting is the main plan, lenders will treat it as an investment property.
Rockingham County adopted an annual short-term rental permit program in December 2025; all STR operators must obtain a permit by December 31, 2026 and renew annually. The permit is separate from zoning and the transient occupancy tax.
Rules change. Each item links to the official source, summarized as of November 9, 2026. Always confirm the current rule for the specific parcel and any HOA before you write an offer.
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Yes. Rockingham County requires every short-term rental operator to obtain an annual administrative permit by December 31, 2026 and renew it each year. The permit is separate from zoning approval and from the county's transient occupancy tax.
It can. Fannie Mae says a second home must not be subject to any agreement that gives a management firm control over its occupancy. Hiring a cleaner or local manager is different from a rental program that controls your calendar, so share any resort or condo rental agreement with your loan officer early.
A second home is a one-unit home you personally use for part of the year and control yourself; an investment property is one you buy mainly to rent out. Lenders classify the loan by how you will actually use the property, not by how it is listed, and the classification affects how the loan is underwritten and priced.
Occasionally, yes, under Fannie Mae's guidelines, as long as you still use the home yourself for part of the year, keep exclusive control of it, do not primarily operate it as a rental and do not rely on the rental income to qualify. If renting is the main plan, the property is usually financed as an investment property instead.
Generally no. Fannie Mae allows a loan to be delivered as a second home when the lender identifies rental income only if that income is not used for qualifying purposes. If you need the rental income to afford the payment, talk to your loan officer about investment-property financing instead.
Tell me the town, the property and how you plan to use it. I’ll tell you how a lender is likely to classify it, which local rules to check and what to gather before you make an offer.