A DSCR loan is an investment property mortgage that qualifies the property itself instead of you. The acronym stands for Debt Service Coverage Ratio — the ratio of the property's gross monthly rent to its monthly debt service (PITIA). If the rent covers the carrying cost, the property qualifies. Your personal income, your DTI, your tax returns, your W-2 — none of it enters the equation.
This is the workhorse loan for the modern real-estate investor. It exists because conventional financing was never built for someone who owns five or fifteen rental properties. By the time an investor has stabilized a small portfolio, their personal DTI is too tight for any conventional bank to read — even though each property is cash-flow positive. DSCR financing solves that exact problem: each property is qualified on its own merits.
"A serious investor doesn't have a personal income problem. They have a documentation-shape problem. DSCR fixes that — we underwrite the asset, the way the asset was always supposed to be underwritten."
— Mayer Dallal, Managing Director, Mbanc
What makes DSCR loans different from conventional rental financing:
- No personal income documentation. No tax returns, no W-2s, no pay stubs, no DTI calculation. Just the rent and the carrying cost.
- LLC ownership is standard. Title the property in your LLC, LP, or trust. Personal guarantees from members are typical, but the entity is the borrower.
- Unlimited financed properties. Conventional financing caps you at 10 financed properties. DSCR has no such limit — qualify as many as cash flow.
- Foreign nationals welcome. No US tax history required. Adjusted LTV applies, but the program is open.
- Short-term rentals count. Airbnb, VRBO, vacation rental income — eligible with a 5-point LTV reduction.
The three numbers that determine your DSCR qualification:
- Gross monthly rent — what the property actually rents for, or what a market-rent appraisal supports on a vacant unit. This is the top of the DSCR fraction.
- Monthly PITIA — the sum of Principal & Interest at the qualifying rate, plus monthly Taxes, Insurance, and HOA. This is the bottom of the DSCR fraction.
- LTV cap by credit and product — at 720+ FICO, Mbanc lends up to 80% LTV on DSCR purchase, with overlays for short-term rentals and DSCR-light files.
About the 8% rate this calculator uses. Non-QM rates move with broader market conditions. Rather than show a rate that may be stale next week, this calculator uses a flat 8% assumption — conservative enough that your real rate, determined at full underwriting, is typically lower. A lower actual rate produces a lower P&I, which raises DSCR. If your DSCR clears 1.00 at 8%, you have headroom at the rate you'll actually get.