Tag Archive for: rental loans

How to Make a DSCR Loan Work for Your Rental Property

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How to Make a DSCR Loan Work for Your Rental Property

It is important that people look at all of their options when they are searching for a DSCR loan. While rents are increasing, they are thankfully not increasing very fast. However, rates are still high and are falling between 7 and 8. These are the times when you really need to work your numbers and products in order to find the right DSCR loan for your rental property.  

Are you above the break even point for DSCR ratios?

A DSCR loan has always been a 30 year product, meaning that it is amortized over 30 years. However, there are other options out there that will typically give you the benefit of qualifying. Here at The Cash Flow Company, we typically see people who are just below the break even point on DSCR ratios. Just to clarify, the break even point on DSCR ratios is normally 1 or 1.1 depending on the lender. 

How do you change the numbers in your favor?

Many investors are wondering how they can change their numbers even when rents, taxes, and insurance are not going to change. In order to make an impact on your numbers you are going to have to change your interest rate, look at interest only loans, or find a 40 year product. By looking outside of the typical 30 year box, you will be able to find a number that fits your property. 

Let’s look at a 30 year loan:

DSCR expenses include your principle, interest, taxes, insurance, flood insurance, and HOA. These can also be referred to as your expenses for the property.

Today we are just going to focus on principal and interest, or your Net Rent. 

Loan amount $250K
Net Rent $1,725
30 year loan 7.65%
Monthly payment $1,774
Break even point (Rents – Monthly payment) -$50

On this property, the expenses are $50 over the break even point. For a 30 year product, this property would not qualify.

Let’s look at an interest only loan.

Just to clarify, interest only means that you are only paying the interest on the property for a period of time during that loan. Normally these loans are available for 5, 7, or 10 years. While you’re not paying down on the property, you are instead creating the cash flow you need to qualify. 

Loan amount $250K
Net Rent $1,725
Interest only loan 7.65%
Monthly payment $1,594
Break even point (Rents – Monthly payment) + $131

On this property, the expenses are under the break even point by $131. For an interest only loan this property would qualify because it is cash flowing. 

Let’s look at a 40 year loan.

A 40 year loan is an amortized loan, which just means that it takes longer to pay off. 

Loan amount $250K
Net Rent $1,725
40 year loan 7.65%
Monthly payment $1,673
Break even point (Rents – Monthly payment) + $52

The difference between a 30 year loan and a 40 year loan on this property is  $101. 

Set yourself up for success.

There is no reason to get into real estate investing unless you are creating wealth by creating cash flow. Just to clarify, creating wealth is setting yourself up for long term success, while cash flow is what you are creating right now. It is important that you not only look at making the right moves now, but also understand how everything will line up for the future. For example, a property that was purchased for $25K 20 years ago is now worth $400K. There is a lot of money to be made in real estate investing. Set yourself up for success by going through the numbers and focusing on finding the best product. 

There is a downside.

By using an interest only loan or an amortized loan you will be paying it down slower. However, over time the property will go up in value. This helps to balance things back out when the time comes to sell the property. In these different times you have to use different strategies in order to be successful. For example, when rates are a little higher, you need to find a product that will break even or better yet cash flow. When the rates go back down you can then refinance it and get a better payment. Keep in mind that  what may appear as a downside now, could be beneficial later as long as the property breaks even.

Building your foundation.

Here at The Cash Flow Company we want to help you qualify! By using this next example, you could not only have the opportunity to get into one property, but build your investment future. Real estate investing is truly one of the most reliable forms of investment. It is a long term investment with excellent opportunities to create wealth.

Let’s look at buying down your rate.

Buying down your rate means that you are paying an extra point, which is 1% of your loan to the lender in order to get a better rate. A better rate would be a better payment, and which would allow you to qualify.

Loan amount $250K
Net Rent $1,725
Pay down interest (1%)  7.35%
Monthly payment  $1,722
Break even point (Rents – Monthly payment) $3 under

While there is not much cash flow right now, it does allow investors to get into the property and creates an opportunity to build a asset. 

Start looking for the best product for you!

Now is the time to look into different products in order to see which is best for you and your property. Regardless of whether it’s a 30 year loan, interest only loan, 40 year loan, or a buy down, you have a lot of options available.  Here at The Cash Flow Company we want to help you find the best product for you! Contact us today to walk through the numbers.

Watch our most recent video How to Make a DSCR Loan Work for Your Rental Property to find out more! 

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Stop Dropping Listing Price NOW

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If you want to refinance your flip – stop dropping the listing price!

Will you keep your flip property as a rental? If the answer is “yes” or “maybe,” then STOP dropping the listing price today.

Lowering the listing price kills your deal. It becomes impossible to get the best loan to keep the property as a rental. 

Why? Let’s go over the ways a lower list price affects your ability to refinance – plus a real life example from one of our clients.

How an Appraisal Impacts Real Estate Loans

If you plan on keeping the property, stop dropping the listing price NOW. Otherwise, it will impact the value of your home (and your LTV when you go to refinance).

The appraiser has certain guidelines they have to follow while determining the value of your home.

First of all, they have to go by whatever the current market conditions are. What are like-properties selling for in your market?

It doesn’t matter what properties sold for 3-6 months ago in the same place – they look at current conditions.

Your Price Changes the Appraisal

From the appraiser’s perspective, your price keeps dropping because the house won’t sell there. If the house won’t sell at a price, then it’s not worth that value.

If you dropped the price by $30,000, then $40,000, then $50,000, and it still hasn’t sold… the appraiser can’t give you the original value. In fact, they can’t even use your last list price. It’s clear the house didn’t sell for that much, so it must not be worth that much right now. Typically, your appraisal will come in between 1-10% lower than your last listing price.

Everything in a refinance hinges on the appraisal. If the appraisal is too low, you’ll get a low LTV. With a low LTV, your rates will be high. If your rates are too high, you’ll have negative cash flow. Your loan options can get totally squashed – all because of a lower list price.

Stop dropping the price if you may want to refinance before selling.

How Dropping Listing Price Hurt a Refinance

We had a recent client come across this exact issue. Here are his real numbers and what happened to him.

The First Listing

This client listed his property in late July, early August of this year. Everything had been going well for his investments in the last 7 or 8 years, so he took his time on a couple recent flips. But it took him a little too long on this one, and the timing is now killing him.

Let’s look at his numbers.

This client owes $425,000 on the loan. His initial listing price for this property was $769,000. 

So far, so good. These numbers are great. He has a low loan-to-value. Sixty-five percent is a major threshold for LTVs. Being under 65%, this would be a great position for a refinance.

He would have had a lot of options available to him at this point, even if his income didn’t suffice for a conventional loan.

The Second Price

A couple weeks later, like most people would do when their property hasn’t sold, he decided to lower the price.

The new price was $725,000. His LTV crossed the threshold to above 65%. 

Although not as great as before, he still would have plenty of loan options. Everything still looking good.

Third and Fourth Price Drops

One week later, he decided to drop price again. His realtor talked him into dropping below $700,000.

Now at $699,800, he’s lowered the price three times. When the appraiser looks at this, they’re going to see the continual drops, making it clear that the property is not selling at these prices.

Eight weeks in, this client started getting desperate. Remember, he’s making monthly payments on this property. The house has a high negative cash flow. So he drops the price to $649,000 in hopes of selling.

He’s crossed another major LTV threshold into 70-75%. He’s created a big hurdle for refinancing by dropping the property 4 times over the last 8 weeks.

Dropping Listing Price Hurts Refinance

The appraiser will see the property isn’t selling at $649,000. So based on the current market rates, they’ll appraise it 1-10% less than that number. With this low appraisal, our client could get trapped above a 75% LTV. Getting a decent refinance loan just became way harder, with a nearly guaranteed negative cash flow.

The LTV has gone up, so now his refinance rates will go up. Additionally, he’s backed into a corner where he’ll need a higher credit score to get the loan. At a 65% LTV, there are options for almost any credit score. At 75%, you need a much higher score to get anything.

Every time you drop the price, you’re putting yourself at a higher risk of a worse rental refinance loan. Dropping price gets you lower LTVs, worse cash flow, and potentially takes away the option to refinance altogether.

Other Tips to Help You Stop Dropping Listing Price

If you made the decision to rent the property and you’ll keep it on the market, that’s fine up to a certain point. We recommend a few extra tricks to get the property sold without lowering price:

  • “Accepting all offers.” Putting this in your listing tells buyers you’ll take less. But it doesn’t affect the actual listing price (so it won’t knock down your property’s value in an appraisal).
  • Offer an incentive. You can give an incentive to the buying broker to put your property up front.
  • Buy down. Buying 2 points on a $500,000 loan costs you $10,000. This buys down the rate up to 1 point, which could help a buyer qualify with a new debt ratio.

Help to Stop Dropping Listing Price

We hate to see clients end up with pains from dropping their listing price. Let’s make sure you don’t land in the same spot.

If you have a loan you want us to look at, price out, and calculate cash flow on, send it our way!  Email us at Info@TheCashFlowCompany.com.

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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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