Investment financing works differently than a mortgage on the home you live in — the deal and the property’s numbers carry more weight than your paycheck. This guide covers the programs available to real estate investors, what each one takes to qualify, and how to get a real number on your scenario.
Key Takeaways
- You don’t need W-2 income or tax returns to finance an investment property — programs qualify on the property’s rent, on bank deposits, or on assets.
- Rental financing is available up to 85% LTV and up to $4,000,000, with no-ratio options that carry no minimum debt-service coverage requirement at all.
- Short-term rental income is eligible on qualifying programs, and first-time investors are not excluded.
- The right structure depends on your strategy — buy-and-hold, fix-and-flip, BRRRR, or scaling a portfolio — and the wrong one can cost you the deal.
- Credit, documented reserves, and a clear exit widen your options. Actual terms are quoted per transaction.
How Investment Property Financing Works
A borrower is statistically more likely to walk away from a rental than from the roof over their own head. Investment lending prices that reality in: larger down payments, documented reserves, and closer scrutiny of the asset itself.
The tradeoff cuts in your favor, though. Because the property carries the underwriting, investor programs can ignore the things that stop conventional borrowers cold — inconsistent income, heavy write-offs, recent self-employment, an already-full debt-to-income ratio, or ten financed properties on the credit report. What matters is whether the deal works.
That distinction is why investment financing is a different conversation than a conventional mortgage, and why the program you choose matters as much as the terms you get.
Investment Financing Programs
Abo Capital offers the following investor lending programs. Every figure below is a maximum available on qualifying scenarios — not a guarantee, and not what every borrower will be approved for.
DSCR Loans — Qualify on the Property’s Rent
The workhorse of modern investment financing. Instead of your personal income, the property’s rental cash flow carries the loan. No tax returns, no W-2s, no debt-to-income calculation.
- Up to 85% LTV on purchase; loan amounts up to $4,000,000
- Credit from roughly 550 on select programs
- No-ratio options available — programs with no minimum DSCR at all, plus tiered pricing at 1.0+, 0.75–0.99, and below
- Short-term rental (Airbnb-style) income eligible
- First-time investors eligible
- 30-year fixed, ARM, and interest-only structures; title in an LLC or entity permitted
If the property cash-flows, this is usually the cleanest path. Learn more about DSCR rental loans.
Bank Statement Loans
Built for self-employed investors whose tax returns understate what they actually earn. Qualification runs off 12 or 24 months of personal or business bank deposits.
- Up to 90% LTV on purchase
- Loan amounts to $4,000,000 on standard tiers, and up to $20,000,000 on the portfolio program
- Credit from the low 600s at conservative leverage; best terms at 680+
See bank statement loans for the full program.
1099 and P&L Income Programs
For independent contractors and business owners. Qualify on 1099s alone, or on a CPA-prepared or borrower-prepared profit-and-loss statement, in place of full tax returns.
- Up to 90% LTV on 1099 documentation; up to roughly 80–85% on P&L
- Loan amounts to $4,000,000
- 12- or 24-month documentation periods
Asset-Based Qualification
Qualify on liquid assets with no employment and no income calculation at all. Common for retired investors and high-net-worth borrowers whose wealth sits in accounts rather than paychecks.
- Up to roughly 80% LTV
- Loan amounts to $3,000,000 and above
More on asset depletion loans.
Fix & Flip and Bridge Financing
Short-term, asset-based investment capital for non-owner-occupied rehab and time-sensitive acquisition. Underwritten to the deal and the exit rather than to your income, so it closes fast — the right tool for flips, auctions, and properties that won’t survive a conventional appraisal.
- Up to 90% of the purchase price and 100% of rehab costs — roughly 95% of total project cost
- Up to approximately 75% of after-repair value (ARV)
- Credit from the low 600s, and from 500 on select programs
- Terms of 6 to 24 months, interest-only; loan amounts from about $200,000 to $10,000,000+
- Leverage tiers with experience — proven investors get more
Plan the exit — sale or refinance — before you close. See fix and flip loans and bridge loans.
Blanket and Portfolio Loans
One loan across multiple properties. Consolidates the paperwork and the payment, and release provisions let you sell individual properties without retiring the whole balance — useful once you’re holding several doors and tired of managing eight separate notes.
Cash-Out Refinance and Investor Equity Lines
If you already hold property with equity, a cash-out refinance or a standalone second turns that equity into the down payment on the next deal. This is how most investors recycle capital instead of waiting to save it.
- Standalone second liens up to 90% CLTV, from $75,000 to $750,000
- Fixed 10-, 15-, 20-, and 30-year terms, fully amortizing
- A DSCR second is available for investors — qualify the second on rent, not personal income
See rental property refinance and home equity options.
Foreign National and ITIN Financing
Non-resident investors and borrowers without a U.S. credit profile can still finance U.S. investment property.
- Up to roughly 75% LTV
- No U.S. credit score required on qualifying programs
- Loan amounts to $2,500,000 and above, typically structured as DSCR
More on foreign national and ITIN loans.
Commercial and Multifamily Financing (5+ Units)
Once a property crosses five units, it moves out of residential underwriting and into the commercial bucket.
- Multifamily and mixed-use DSCR: up to roughly 75% LTV, loan amounts to $3,000,000, with no-ratio options
- Small-balance commercial: roughly $200,000 to $10,000,000+, with documentation tiers from full-doc to streamlined
- Commercial bridge: underwritten to as-stabilized cash flow, with bridge-to-permanent paths
- Ground-up construction: up to 90% of cost, tiered by experience
See commercial property loans.
What It Takes to Qualify
Credit
Investor programs reach further down the credit scale than agency lending does — select rental programs start around 550, and short-term rehab financing goes to 500. But credit drives leverage and pricing directly. The difference between a 660 and a 720 is often ten points of LTV. Pay down revolving balances and avoid opening new accounts in the months before you apply.
Reserves
Expect to document several months of principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and HOA in reserve — more at higher leverage and on larger balances. Reserves are what prove you can carry the property through a vacancy, and they are one of the most common reasons an otherwise-strong file gets repriced.
Down Payment and Leverage
Maximum leverage is a ceiling, not a default. The top of each range assumes strong credit, a clean file, a conforming property type, and a purchase rather than a cash-out. Cash-out refinances typically sit five to ten points below purchase leverage on the same program.
Documentation — or the Absence of It
If your tax returns tell the story you want told, full documentation will usually get you the best terms. If they don’t — heavy depreciation, aggressive write-offs, a recent move into self-employment — a property-based or asset-based program is not a fallback. It is frequently the correct product, and pretending otherwise costs investors deals every year.
Matching the Financing to Your Strategy
- Buy and hold: DSCR, 30-year fixed. Long amortization, rent-based qualification, entity title.
- Fix and flip: short-term rehab financing at high leverage on total cost, interest-only, with the exit planned before closing.
- BRRRR: rehab financing to acquire and renovate, then a DSCR cash-out refinance to pull capital back out and repeat.
- Scaling a portfolio: blanket or cross-collateralized structures, and no-ratio DSCR once conventional debt-to-income limits and financed-property caps stop you.
- Short-term rentals: DSCR programs that accept STR income — not every investor lender does, and it changes the leverage available.
Why Investors Work With Abo Capital
Abo Capital is a Non-QM and investment lending specialist operating nationally from Los Angeles. Steve Abo is a Senior Loan Officer and Certified Divorce Lending Professional with decades in the business, NMLS 358799.
The practical value is program selection. Investment financing is not one product with one set of terms — it is a dozen programs with materially different ceilings, and the same borrower can be declined on one and approved at high leverage on another. Getting that routing right on the first attempt is most of the job.
Get a Real Number on Your Scenario
Every figure on this page is a maximum available on qualifying files. What you can actually borrow depends on the property, the credit profile, the documentation, and the structure. A scenario review gives you the real answer — leverage, structure, and terms — so you can make offers with confidence instead of guesses.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get an investment property loan without showing my income?
Yes. DSCR programs qualify on the property’s rental income rather than yours — no tax returns, no W-2s, no debt-to-income calculation. Asset-based programs qualify on liquid holdings instead. Both are mainstream investor products, not exceptions.
What is a no-ratio DSCR loan?
A DSCR loan with no minimum debt-service coverage requirement. Standard DSCR programs want rent to cover the payment at some threshold. No-ratio programs remove that test entirely, which matters for properties that don’t cash-flow on paper — appreciation plays, heavy-rehab holds, or markets where rents lag values. Leverage is lower in exchange.
How much do I need to put down on an investment property?
On rental financing, as little as 15% down at maximum leverage on qualifying purchase scenarios. On short-term rehab financing, structures reach up to 90% of purchase with 100% of rehab financed. The top of those ranges requires strong credit and a clean file; most transactions land somewhere below the ceiling.
Can I finance an investment property in an LLC?
Yes. Entity vesting is permitted on DSCR and business-purpose programs, and it is how most investors hold title. Conventional agency lending generally does not allow it, which is one of the routine reasons investors move to Non-QM financing.
Does short-term rental income count?
On qualifying programs, yes — short-term rental income is eligible. Not every investor lender accepts it, and the ones that do treat it differently, so the program you are placed with materially changes what an Airbnb-style property will support.
Can first-time investors qualify?
Yes. First-time investors are eligible on qualifying rental programs, and zero-experience borrowers are eligible on select rehab programs. Experience raises the leverage available, but its absence is not disqualifying.
How many financed properties can I have?
Business-purpose investor programs generally do not impose the financed-property caps that agency lending does. This is usually the point at which investors scaling past four or ten doors move to Non-QM financing.
What are current rates on investment financing?
Pricing moves daily and varies by program, leverage, credit, property type, and prepayment structure — so a published number would be misleading by the time you read it. Terms are quoted per transaction on a scenario review.