09/18/2026
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗬 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗻… 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸?
That’s the basic idea behind a 𝗗𝗦𝗖𝗥 𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗻 ..
Debt Service Coverage Ratio financing.
Instead of qualifying primarily from your W-2s, tax returns or personal debt-to-income ratio, the lender looks heavily at whether the 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲-𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 can support its own monthly debt and operating expenses.
If you’re purchasing a 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 and the qualifying rental income supports the required expenses, you may be able to qualify based largely on the property’s numbers rather than traditional income documentation.
𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗗𝗢 𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗔𝗧?
• Expected or documented rental income
• Principal + interest
• Property taxes
• Insurance
• HOA dues, when applicable
• Other expenses required by the lender
• The property’s overall DSCR ratio
𝗔 𝟭.𝟬𝟬 𝗗𝗦𝗖𝗥 generally means the qualifying income is approximately equal to the qualifying debt obligation. A ratio above 1.00 means there is more qualifying income than debt expense. 𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺.
𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗜𝗡𝗩𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗦 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗗𝗦𝗖𝗥
• Less focus on personal income documentation
• Can be useful for self-employed buyers
• Personal DTI may be less important than with conventional financing
• Designed specifically for investment properties
• Can work for both long-term and qualifying short-term rentals
• Helpful for investors building a larger portfolio
𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘
• Rates and fees can be higher than conventional financing- BUT NOT ALWAYS
• Not every property will qualify
• Rental income has to be supportable and documented in the way that particular lender requires
• High HOA, insurance and taxes can quickly hurt the numbers
• Short-term rental income can be evaluated differently from lender to lender
And this is exactly why I don’t just look at the 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 when helping an investor.
I’m looking at the whole picture:
𝗥𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 + 𝗛𝗢𝗔 + 𝘁𝗮𝘅𝗲𝘀 + 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 + 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 = 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲?
💰 property with strong rental numbers can sometimes open financing options buyers didn’t even realize were available.
***𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 “𝗻𝗼” 𝗯𝘆 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿, 𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼, 𝗗𝗦𝗖𝗥 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁.
𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗦𝗖𝗥 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 ..
𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸, 𝗹𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘁.
I’ve got great DSCR lenders and can help you find properties with numbers that actually make sense.
𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗻 | 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗢𝗥®
Joy Sullivan Realty
📲 850-206-9774
📧 lauren@joysullivanrealty. com
𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗠𝗟𝗦 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: lauren.joysullivanrealty. com