Tag Archive for: DSCR loans

5 Steps to Get a DSCR Loan for Investors

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This loan type is an investor’s secret weapon… Here’s how to get a DSCR loan in 5 steps.

You need money to make money. But it doesn’t have to be your money.

Real estate investing is a highly leveraged game. 

DSCR loans are different from conventional loans like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because they have more lenient guidelines. DSCR loans can have anywhere from 30 to 100 different funding sources, and each one has their own underwriting rules. 

Every lender will have different prices, terms, and underwriting criteria. But here are 5 things you’ll definitely need to know to get a DSCR loan approval.

1. Credit Score: Understanding Your Credit

Your credit score is the main factor that lenders consider when evaluating your loan application. 

A higher credit score can get you a better loan-to-value (LTV) ratio and a lower interest rate. For example, a 740 score will get you an LTV 5-10% more than a 640 score. Your interest rate with a 740 score will be .5-2% lower than the interest rate with a 640 score.

If your credit score is below 700, you should take steps to improve it – such as paying down credit card debt and making sure all your payments are on time. 

This article offers some ideas for raising your credit score quickly. You can also download this free credit score checklist to get you where you need to be.

2. Money: Down Payments, Closing Costs, and Reserves

In addition to the down payment, you’ll need to have enough money for closing costs and reserves.

For reserves on a DSCR loan, lenders often require you to have 3-6 months’ worth of mortgage payments. This extra cash protects the lender in case your tenant unexpectedly vacates or some other unexpected situation arises.

The money doesn’t necessarily have to be yours – you can borrow OPM from a business partner, friend, or family member. To get a DSCR loan, though, your lender will want to see the funds for a down payment and reserves to approve you.

3. Know Your Numbers: Property Income and Expenses

DSCR loans are based on the property’s ability to generate income and pay for itself. So your in-flow and out-flow numbers are a major factor in whether or not you get a DSCR loan.

The minimum requirement is that the rents cover all expenses, including:

  • The mortgage payment
  • Taxes
  • Insurance
  • Any HOA fees

Expenses not considered by your lender include:

  • Property management fees
  • Utilities
  • Maintenance

If the property generates more income than expenses, you’ll get a better rate. However, if it doesn’t break even, you’ll likely end up paying a higher rate.

For example, if you show a lender your property can bring in $1,250 and your payments are only $1,000, you can get a better rate.

Know your numbers to get your DSCR loan approved.

4. Be Prepared: Gather Your Info to Get a DSCR Loan

If you want to not only get approved for a DSCR loan, but have it happen quickly, make sure you have all your documents and information ready to go.

Treat your real estate investing like a business – and like you’re a professional. If you come to a lender prepared, you get:

  • First dibs
  • Fast service
  • Better rates

Lenders want to do business with people who prove they can stay on top of their finances and paperwork. Just as you want to rent to “easy” tenants, lenders want to help investors who cause the least amount of friction.

It also benefits you to be competent and prepared so you can read the lender better. Unfortunately, not all financial institutions have your best interest in mind, so being prepared helps ensure you find the best deal.

5. Shop Around: Compare Offers from Multiple Lenders

There are many different funding sources for DSCR loans, and they all have different terms and rates. To get the best deal, it’s important to shop around and compare offers from multiple lenders.

It may benefit you to stay away from jack-of-all-trades lenders. Look for lenders who specialize in DSCR loans and have a track record of working with real estate investors. They will have the most options for you to get the DSCR loan product that best fits your specific property.

Have the money, understand where your credit is, and know the numbers for the property. Taking 20 minutes per week to stay on top of this means all the difference for your approval on a DSCR loan (and for your real estate investment career!).

How to Get the BEST DSCR Loan

These 5 steps will get you well on your way to approval for a DSCR investor loan.

Remember to focus on:

  • Improving your credit score
  • Having money for down payments and reserves
  • Knowing your numbers
  • Being prepared
  • Shopping around for the best deal. 

Leverage is king in real estate. With a little bit of effort, you can secure the financing you need to grow your real estate investment portfolio.

Send us an email at Info@TheCashFlowCompany.com. Show us a deal you’re looking at or ask any questions you still need answered.

Let’s make you the most successful investor we can.

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When Is a DSCR Loan Cheaper Than a Bridge Loan?

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Here’s how you can tell whether a DSCR loan is cheaper than a bridge loan for a flip on the market.

When a flipped house isn’t selling, many investors resort to converting the house into a rental while they wait out the market. You can use a bridge loan or DSCR loan to do this.

But how do you tell which loan you should use? What are the qualities of each one? Is the DSCR loan cheaper than a bridge loan? Here’s what you need to know.

Using a DSCR Loan to Turn a Flip Into a Rental

A DSCR loan is the perfect longer-term option if you need to switch your fix-and-flip property to a rental. 

First of all, a DSCR loan is based only on:

  • Your credit score (640-680 minimum).
  • The LTV (maximum of 80%).
  • Whether the property’s rent covers monthly expenses (including mortgage, insurance, taxes, and HOA fees).

There’s a variety of DSCR loans available – interest-only, 40-year amortization, regular 30-year, etc. Whatever loan you get, there’s an important detail to consider for all DSCR loans…

The DSCR Prepayment Penalty

The downside of a DSCR loan is the prepayment penalty.

Each loan has a term set for this penalty. If you pay off the loan before that term ends, you’re charged an exit fee. However, the fee amount does decrease each year.

As an example, one common structure for DSCR loans is a 5-year prepay penalty with a 5% fee. If you pay 4 years early, the fee goes down to 4%, 3 years, 3%, etc.

Additionally, there’s always a point where a DSCR loan, despite the prepay fee, becomes cheaper than a bridge loan.

Is a DSCR Loan Cheaper Than a Bridge Loan?

We’ve covered that the DSCR loan comes with the prepayment fee. Sounds pricey. But we also have to consider that the bridge loan will have a much higher interest rate.

Difference in Cost

If you intend to keep a property for more than 2 years, then a DSCR loan will always end up costing less, despite the fee.

But if you only want the property for 1 year or less, then the bridge loan will always be cheaper.

The gray area is the 1-2 year range. It varies with each loan, but there’s a tipping point somewhere in that timeframe where the bridge loan (with interest) becomes more expensive than a DSCR loan (with prepay fee).

Difference in Time

An underrated aspect of a DSCR loan is its built-in peace of mind. We have our educated guesses about how the market will go, but at the end of the day – things don’t always go as planned.

With a DSCR loan, if you end up needing to keep the property for 3, or even 30 years, you already have a product in place.

After one year with a bridge loan, you commit to either getting rid of the property or putting another loan (like a DSCR) in place.

Read the full article here.

Watch the video here:

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Numbers Don’t Lie: Turn Your Flip into a Rental Now

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These numbers show you when it’s time to turn your flip into a rental.

What do you do with a flip that won’t sell?

The question is: is it smarter to leave the house on the market and keep dropping the price? Or take it off and turn it into a rental now before rates go further up and prices further down?

You don’t want to sell for a price that loses you money. But if you refinance into a rental, you know it’ll be negative cash flow.

It can feel lose-lose. But we can show you the better way out.

Let’s go over the numbers behind this, so you can look at this problem clearly. Here’s what it will look like if you turn your flip into a rental now.

How Bad Is the Negative Cash Flow?

The hesitation for many investors in this situation is: if you take the property off the market, the house has negative cash flow. The price is too high, and the rent probably won’t cover the costs. Why would you intentionally put yourself in a situation where you’re losing money?

But the reality is: the house is a negative cash-flowing property now. Every month the house is on the market, you pay interest. That money adds no value to the property – you’re just draining your money straight into your lender’s pocket.

Even if you don’t refinance with a rental loan, you already have a negative cash flow property.

Why not take the step to turn your flip into a rental now and reduce the amount of money you’re losing each month?

Refinance a Flip To a Rental

Typically, people spend more money leaving a house on the market for 2 or 3 months than they would turning it into a negative cash flowing rental for 2 years.

Would you rather pay $2,500 per month on a house with a for sale sign on it? Or get $2,200 in rent and only pay $300 of your own money per month? This is the question you’re left with when your flip isn’t selling in this market.

Turning a Flip to a Rental in Past Down Markets

Take a lesson from 2008 and 2009. Many investors who sold during the crash later realized that if they had waited 3 or 4 years, they could have made their money back on those properties.

Not only would their property values have gone up, but rates would have come down. Those properties would have become major assets. Instead, investors took a big hit selling in a down market.

Negative DSCR and No-Ratio Loans

So if you decide to go with this negatively cash flowing property, what are your options for a loan? 

Let’s go over the negative DSCR and the no-ratio loan programs.

These loans allow you a 30-year fixed product that’s interest-only. These DSCR loans work even on properties that aren’t cash flowing.

Typically for a DSCR loan, the rent from the property has to at least cover the monthly expenses (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance). Outflow has to equal inflow.

But these negative DSCR and no-ratio options allow you to refinance rental properties even when you bring in less rent than you pay out per month.

Refinancing with Bridge Loans vs DSCR

Getting a DSCR or no-ratio loan from a new lender is typically a better move than continuing to refinance with bridge loans from your current lender.

You don’t know where the market will be in 12 to 24 months. We know that long-term, the markets will come back, but what if that doesn’t happen for 3 years? You could get stuck refinancing with a bridge loan year after year, charging points with each refinance.

DSCR loans are often a better option in this situation. You just have to know your numbers.

Let’s go through an example so you know exactly how to calculate a DSCR loan and see if it’s the smart choice for you.

Using a DSCR Loan to Combat Negative Cash Flow: The Numbers

Let’s look at an example with a $300,000 loan. We’ll assume that both the original flip loan and the DSCR loan you’re refinancing into are interest-only.

This $300,000 flip loan has a 10% interest rate. That means you’re paying $2,500/month just for interest. This is the current negative cash flow of the property.

On the other hand, if you can get a DSCR loan for a 7% interest rate, you’d be paying $1,750/month instead. Plus, you could get a tenant renting for $1,800/month.

At this point, $1,800 would be coming in, and $1,750 would be going out for mortgage payments. This is actually a positive cash flow of $50/month.

However, your mortgage isn’t your only expense on this property. We still have to take taxes and insurance into consideration. Let’s say both of those costs add up to $300 per month. 

This raises the total expenses with a DSCR loan to $2,050 per month, bringing the cash flow to a -$250 every month.

Flip Loan vs DSCR Loan Compared

Obviously, you never like to lose money on a property. But that $250 of negative cash flow multiplied by 12 months is only $3,000. After 2 years, it’s $6,000. That may seem like a lot, but let’s look back at what you’d spend with the original flip loan.

If we go back to our example, remember we’d be paying $2,500 per month in interest, plus $300 in taxes and insurance with the original flip loan. That’s $2,800 spent for 1 month with the flip loan – close to the $3,000 for the full year with a DSCR loan!

If you keep the house on the market with this flip loan for 2 months, it’s $5,600. That’s comparable to 2 years of out-of-pocket costs if the same property was converted into a rental. 

This is how you have to look at the numbers in this scenario. It will help you determine what’s right for your flip. Is it better to wait for the market and shell out thousands of dollars in the meantime? Or rent the property with a little negative cash flow for 2-3 years in hopes of recouping an extra $100k in equity when the markets come back? (Or at least until rates come back down so you can refinance?)

In many cases, it makes more sense to turn your flip into a rental ASAP with a negative DSCR or no-ratio loan.

What Should You Do Next?

If you feel ready to refinance your flip into a rental, act quickly. Rates are going up, prices are going down.

There are some downsides to no-ratio and DSCR loans. Let us know you’re looking, and we’re happy to help you find the best loan for your situation.

The Cash Flow Company looks at hundreds of loans every month to find the best terms for investors, with the lowest down payments, highest LTVs, and best rates. Let us run the numbers on your property, and we’ll let you know what product will be best for your situation.

We want to get you to a place where you reduce negative cash flow and get back into some profitable flips. Email us at Info@TheCashFlowCompany.com.

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How to Turn a Flip Into a Rental

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Stuck on the market? You might need to turn a flip into a rental… Here’s how!

What do we do with these flips that aren’t selling?

First, you have a big decision to make quickly – will you turn the flip into a rental?

You get the freedom of a little cash flowing in while you wait out the bad market. Depending on how long you’re willing to wait, you have a couple options to get into a temporary rental.

Here’s what you need to know about turning a flip into a rental with DSCR or bridge loans.

Using a DSCR Loan to Turn a Flip Into a Rental

A DSCR loan is the perfect longer-term option if you need to switch your fix-and-flip property to a rental. First of all, a DSCR loan is based only on:

  • Your credit score (640-680 minimum).
  • The LTV (maximum of 80%).
  • Whether the property’s rent covers monthly expenses (including mortgage, insurance, taxes, and HOA fees).

There’s a variety of DSCR loans available – interest-only, 40-year amortization, regular 30-year, etc. Whatever loan you get, there’s an important detail to consider for all DSCR loans…

The DSCR Prepayment Penalty

The downside of a DSCR loan is the prepayment penalty.

Each loan has a term set for this penalty. If you pay off the loan before that term ends, you’re charged an exit fee. However, the fee amount does decrease each year.

As an example, one common structure for DSCR loans is a 5-year prepay penalty with a 5% fee. If you pay 4 years early, the fee goes down to 4%, 3 years, 3%, etc.

Additionally, there’s always a point where a DSCR loan, despite the prepay fee, becomes cheaper than a bridge loan.

DSCR vs Bridge Loan – Which Is Better for Turning a Flip Into a Rental?

The two main options when you need to turn a flip into a rental are a DSCR loan or a bridge loan. But how do you know which to pick? 

We’ve covered that the DSCR loan comes with the prepayment fee. But the bridge loan will have a much higher interest rate.

Difference in Cost

If you intend to keep a property for more than 2 years, then a DSCR loan will always end up costing less, despite the fee.

But if you only want the property for 1 year or less, then the bridge loan will always be cheaper.

The gray area is the 1-2 year range. It varies with each loan, but there’s a tipping point somewhere in that timeframe where the bridge loan (with interest) becomes more expensive than a DSCR loan (with prepay fee).

Difference in Time

An underrated aspect of a DSCR loan is its built-in peace of mind. We have our educated guesses about how the market will go, but at the end of the day – things don’t always go as planned.

With a DSCR loan, if you end up needing to keep the property for 3, or even 30 years, you already have a product in place.

After one year with a bridge loan, you commit to either getting rid of the property or putting another loan (like a DSCR) in place.

A Close Look at the Numbers

To help us understand when a DSCR loan becomes the cheaper option, let’s look at an example. Then we can see exactly when the scale tips in the DSCR’s favor.

Let’s say we get a DSCR product with the following numbers:

  • A higher interest rate at 8%
  • All fees and loan costs at 2.5%
  • We’re a year or two into the loan and the prepay penalty is down to 4%

Let’s look at the number comparison for a $250,000 loan.

The DSCR loan’s 8% rate adds up to $20,000/year. The fees at 2.5 points is $6,250. Lastly, that 4% penalty will cost us $10,000.

Now let’s factor in our bridge loan numbers. The average bridge loan for a $250,000 loan would look like an 11% rate costing $27,500 per year. This is $7,500 more yearly than the DSCR loan, or $625 more per month. The closing costs would be the same for the bridge loan, and then, of course, no prepay fee.

You can see the bridge loan is still almost $3,000 cheaper than the DSCR loan.

These calculations only represent year one of the loan, however. Within that first year, a bridge loan will definitely be cheaper. But let’s look at how things change at month 15:

The bridge loan’s interest starts adding up, and suddenly the DSCR doesn’t seem so expensive. And at month 16, the loans are the same price:

After 16 months, the DSCR loan in this scenario would always be the cheaper option. And every year, the DSCR’s prepay fee drops lower; meanwhile, the bridge loan keeps accruing high interest at the same rate.

Is 16 Months a Realistic Timeline for the Market Right Now?

We expect that the market won’t pick back up for another 14-16 months anyway. If your flip is stuck on the market now, you could:

  1. Get a DSCR loan for the property.
  2. Take a 12-month tenant.
  3. Leave 4 months to spare for getting the house ready, on the market, and closed.

This puts you right at the 16 month minimum to make the DSCR loan worthwhile.

I Want to Turn My Flip Into a Rental

If you have a flip on the market now, converting it to a rental could be right for you. Do you know your tipping point? Should you get a DSCR or bridge loan? Bring your property to us, and we can give you an exact idea of the numbers.

Send us an email at Info@TheCashFlowCompany.com. Let’s get you connected to the right lender.

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