Investor financing guides
How investor loans actually work — the numbers lenders use, worked examples and the rules that decide your leverage and rate. Written for investors, sourced and dated.
DSCR
What is DSCR? It's the rent divided by the payment, and it decides your rental loanDSCR stands for debt service coverage ratio. Here is the formula in plain terms, what lenders count as rent and as the payment, three worked examples, the tiers that change your leverage and price, and seven ways to move the number.13 min readDSCR loan requirements: a 620–680 score, 20–25% down and rent that covers the paymentEvery lender sets its own minimums. These are the ones lenders published in October 2026, and the credit, leverage and DSCR tiers where the terms actually get better. DSCR is the debt service coverage ratio: the property’s rent divided by its monthly payment.8 min readDSCR loan credit score: 620 is the published floor, and full leverage starts near 700Your score decides more than approval. It sets the share of the price a lender will fund, what the loan costs, whether a ratio below 1.00 is allowed and, when partners sign, whose score counts. Here is where lenders' October 2026 guidelines draw each line, and what to do from below 660.12 min readDSCR loan rates in October 2026: about 6.875%–7.375% for top-tier files, and what moves yoursRates change daily. These are the numbers lenders actually posted, with dates, the eight inputs that decide where your quote lands, and the arithmetic behind points and prepayment penalties. DSCR (debt service coverage ratio) loans qualify on the property’s rent divided by its monthly payment, not on your income.7 min readDSCR loan down payment: 20–25% is the usual floor, and the rent can raise itYour down payment is the gap between the price and the largest loan a lender will make. Five limits set that loan: transaction type, property type, loan size, credit and the rent itself. Here's how each one moved in lender guidelines published in 2026, and the cash you need on top.10 min readDSCR loan closing costs: plan on 2–5% of the loan, then price every line before you lockLender fees, the appraisal and rent schedule, title, state taxes and the escrow deposit all land on one settlement statement. What each line cost on published 2026 schedules, which ones you can move, and a line-by-line estimate on a $300,000 loan.10 min readDSCR loans for first-time investors: experience is optional; owning a home and holding reserves often aren'tMost DSCR lenders published no landlord-experience requirement in 2026. The rules that trip up a first deal sit elsewhere: whether you own your home, how a property with no rent history is counted, and how many months of payments you hold after closing.10 min readDSCR loan vs conventional: pay a little more in rate, or prove your incomeA conventional investment loan is usually cheaper if your tax returns qualify you easily and you have fewer than 10 financed properties. A DSCR loan, qualified on the debt service coverage ratio (rent divided by the monthly payment), wins when they don't, when you want an LLC, or when you've hit the cap.8 min readDSCR loans for 2–4 unit properties: every unit is underwritten on its own rent, and the empty one costs youA duplex, triplex or fourplex qualifies for the same DSCR loan as a house, with one rent per unit feeding a single ratio. Lenders test each unit's lease against the appraiser's market rent, ration vacant units on refinances and often take 5 points off leverage. Here are the rules lenders published in 2026, and one fourplex run through two of them.10 min readDSCR cash-out refinance seasoning: when you can borrow on value instead of costMost DSCR lenders published a 90-day or three-month wait before they'll lend against a new appraised value. Refinance sooner and the loan is usually capped by what you paid, which can leave tens of thousands of dollars stuck in the deal. A DSCR loan qualifies on the debt service coverage ratio: the rent divided by the monthly payment.8 min readDSCR loan prepayment penalty: price it against the day you plan to exitA step-down penalty buys a lower rate in exchange for staying put. Shorten it or drop it and the rate or points go up. The right choice comes down to one number: how long you'll keep the loan. DSCR loans are rental loans qualified on the debt service coverage ratio, the rent divided by the monthly payment.8 min readNo-ratio DSCR loans: you can borrow when the rent falls short, at about 70–75% of the priceSome lenders accept a debt service coverage ratio below 1.00, and a few drop the test entirely. Here's who published those programs in October 2026, what they ask in exchange (leverage, price, reserves and a cleaner credit file), and when a rental that doesn't cover its payment is still worth financing.11 min readInterest-only DSCR loans: 10 years of lower payments, then 20 or 30 years to repay it allAn interest-only period cuts your payment and, at most lenders that publish their method, the payment used to qualify you. Here's how the period works, how lenders calculate the ratio on it, the terms they published in October 2026, and what happens to the payment in month 121.11 min readHow many DSCR loans can you have? There's no program cap; the limits come from each lenderConventional financing stops at 10 financed properties. DSCR financing has no equivalent rule, but lender exposure limits, stacking reserves and loan structure decide how far you can scale. DSCR loans qualify on the property’s debt service coverage ratio — its rent divided by its monthly payment — not on your income.7 min readDSCR loans in an LLC: the entity holds title, and you still sign the guaranteeEvery DSCR lender in our research lends to LLCs, and several insist on one. Here's what the entity changes, what it doesn't, and the paperwork to have ready before you're under contract. DSCR stands for debt service coverage ratio: rent divided by the monthly payment.7 min read
Short-term rental
How lenders count Airbnb income for a DSCR loan — and why the method matters more than the rateLenders count short-term rental income one of three ways: your trailing 12 months of bookings, an AirDNA-style projection, or the appraiser's long-term market rent. Each comes with its own haircut, and on the same house the choice can swing the DSCR (debt service coverage ratio: rent divided by the monthly payment) from 0.96 to 1.74.8 min readShort-term rental loan requirements: a 1.0 DSCR after the haircut, 20–35% down and a city that lets you rent by the nightLenders that count Airbnb income run a second checklist on top of the usual DSCR one: an AirDNA report that clears a market score, a 1.0 ratio floor even where long-term rentals can go lower, extra reserves when occupancy is thin, and proof the rental is legal. These are the requirements lenders published in 2025–2026.12 min read
Fix & flip
Fix and flip loan requirements: a 600–660 score, cash for the gap, and a deal that fits under the ARV capThe property and the project carry more weight than your résumé. Here are the credit, experience, leverage, cash, scope, valuation and paperwork rules lenders published in October 2026, with one deal run through all of them.9 min readThe 70% rule for house flipping: a fast screen, not an offer priceARV × 70% − rehab will sort a stack of leads in minutes. It also overpays for cheap houses and loses expensive ones. Here's how to check it against a full-cost maximum allowable offer, and how lender ARV caps change the cash you bring.7 min readFix and flip draw process: the lender pays back finished work, not planned workYour rehab budget is in the loan, but you can't spend it until the work is inspected. How holdbacks, draw requests and inspections work, what lenders published for turnaround, and what interest on drawn funds saves you.7 min readFix and flip loans for beginners: no track record is fine, but expect to bring more cashSeveral national lenders published flip programs with no experience requirement in October 2026. What changes for a first-timer is leverage, the ARV cap and the rate. Here's what beginners get, what it costs in cash, and how to close the gap.7 min read