The property qualifies. Not you.
No tax returns. No W-2s. No debt-to-income ratio. We divide the rent by the payment — and if that number comes in under 1.00, we will tell you the deal doesn't work.
A DSCR loan qualifies the property, not the person. Debt Service Coverage Ratio is simply monthly rent ÷ full monthly payment (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, HOA). At 1.00 the property covers itself; at 1.25 it prices better. There is no personal income check and no cap on how many properties you own — which is why portfolio investors leave conventional financing behind.
Rent ÷ payment. That's the whole loan.
Move the sliders. When the needle drops below 1.00, the property no longer pays for itself — and we will tell you to walk away.
More down = lower payment = higher DSCR. This is the lever investors forget.
Illustrative only. Assumes property tax at 1.25% of price and insurance at $1,600/yr; actual taxes, insurance, HOA, vacancy and management costs vary. Lender DSCR thresholds and pricing differ. Not a commitment to lend. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Conventional financing runs out. DSCR doesn't.
Most conventional lenders stop financing you at around ten properties. That ceiling is the reason serious portfolios move to DSCR — not the rate.
If you own fewer than ten properties and your tax returns qualify you, conventional is usually cheaper and you should take it. We will tell you that. DSCR earns its premium when conventional stops working — not before.
Should you buy this property?
Four taps. This page sells DSCR loans and will happily tell you a deal is bad.
The deal works.
The property covers its own payment and your returns don't support a conventional loan. That is precisely the case DSCR was built for — no tax returns, no DTI, and the option to hold title in an LLC. The rate will be above conventional and we will show you exactly how much.
The lender checks one number. You should check two.
DSCR is rent divided by the mortgage payment. Clear 1.0 and the lender approves you. That number says nothing whatsoever about whether the property makes you money.
None of these appear in the DSCR formula. All of them come out of your bank account.
Clears 1.0. The lender approves you.
The lender says yes. The property says no.
Green is what DSCR measures. Coral is everything DSCR ignores. The gap between them is the difference between qualifying and profiting.
We can get this loan approved. We would rather you knew it loses money first.
Illustrative only. DSCR requirements vary by lender — many require 1.0 or 1.25, some will go to 0.75 with a larger deposit, and a few offer “no-ratio” products where the ratio is not tested at all. Vacancy, maintenance, capex and management assumptions are estimates and vary enormously by property age, type and location. Appreciation is not modelled here and is a legitimate part of an investment case — but it is not cash flow, and it will not pay the mortgage in a bad month. Not a commitment to lend. Equal Housing Opportunity.
DSCR is a lender metric. Not an investor one.
The formula deliberately excludes vacancy, maintenance, capital expenditure and management. Not because they don't exist — but because they are your problem, not the lender's. Here is what the formula leaves out.
A property can clear DSCR 1.25, sail through underwriting, and still take money out of your pocket every single month for thirty years.
Your DSCR of 1.05 clears the lender's bar and we can get this approved. And the property will take $1,612 out of your pocket every month — about $19,348 a year.
DSCR excludes vacancy, maintenance, capex and management by design, because they are not the lender's risk. They are entirely yours.
This can still be a rational buy if you are underwriting appreciation and you can fund the shortfall for years without strain. But you should be doing that deliberately, not because a ratio told you the property was fine.
We can close this loan. We would rather you knew.
From here to the keys — five steps.
No mystery, no call centre, no "we'll get back to you." Every step is exactly what happens inside it.
Four questions. No credit pull, no sign-up, no obligation.
~60 secondsWhat happensOne application goes to dozens of wholesale lenders. They compete for you.
Same dayWhat happensUnderwritten against real documents — not a soft letter any lender prints.
~24 hoursWhat happensListing agents call Adriana. She picks up. That is worth more than a bid.
Your timelineWhat happensConditions cleared, docs signed, funded. And she tells you honestly whether the deal is worth doing.
To the dateWhat happensThree investors. One deal we killed.
Real numbers, and the calls we made.
Ten financed properties and his bank stopped returning calls. DSCR doesn't count how many you own.
The rent didn't cover the payment. He'd have fed it $1,100 a month. We could have written it anyway.
Second rental, W-2 income, returns qualified fine. DSCR would have cost him 1.4% for nothing.
ADReal Estate & Mortgage Broker · GRI
Milpitas, California · Serving all 58 counties
English & Español
Don't take our word for it — click through and verify her licence yourself. We'd encourage it. Anyone who discourages you from checking is telling you something.
A licensed broker who answers her own phone.
"A broker who will tell you no is the only kind whose yes means anything."
Everything investors actually ask.
What is a DSCR loan?
A mortgage for an investment property that qualifies on the property's own rental income rather than your personal income. DSCR means Debt Service Coverage Ratio: the rent divided by the full monthly payment. No tax returns, no W-2s, no debt-to-income calculation on you at all.
How is DSCR calculated?
Monthly rent divided by PITIA — principal, interest, taxes, insurance and any HOA. If a property rents for $5,500 and the full payment is $4,219, the DSCR is 1.30. Above 1.00 means the property pays for itself.
What DSCR do I need?
1.00 is the common threshold — the property covers its own payment. 1.25 and above prices meaningfully better. Some lenders will go down to around 0.75 with a larger down payment and a rate premium. Below that, almost nobody will lend, and frankly they shouldn't.
Do you check my personal income?
No. That is the entire point of the product. There is no DTI calculation, no tax returns, no employment verification. We are underwriting the property, not you. Your credit score and reserves still matter.
How many properties can I own?
There is generally no cap. Conventional financing effectively stops most investors at around ten financed properties; DSCR programs do not have that ceiling. This is why serious portfolio investors move to DSCR — not because it is cheaper, but because it does not run out.
What down payment do I need?
Typically 20% to 25%, and pricing improves with more. A larger down payment also raises your DSCR directly, because it lowers the payment the rent has to cover — which is the lever most investors forget they have.
Are the rates higher?
Yes. DSCR is a non-QM product and prices above conventional. If you can qualify conventionally on a rental and you are under the property limit, conventional is usually cheaper. We will tell you when that is the case.
Can I use short-term rental income?
Some lenders will use documented short-term rental history — typically via a rental history report — while others insist on long-term market rent from the appraisal. It varies enormously by lender, and the difference can decide the deal. We know which ones will.
What if the property doesn't cash flow?
Then the deal does not work, and we will say so. A DSCR below 1.00 means the rent does not cover the payment and you will be feeding the property every month. Sometimes there is a fix — more down, a different property, a better rent. Sometimes the honest answer is that this is a bad deal.
Can I close in an LLC?
Usually yes, and most DSCR lenders prefer it. This is one of the practical advantages over conventional financing, which generally requires the loan in your personal name. Speak to your attorney and CPA about the structure.
Stop estimating. Get the real number.
Four questions, no credit pull. You'll get your payment, your options, and an honest read on the best fit.