Cash to Close · 9 min read
How Much Cash Do You Really Need to Buy a Home?
A plain-English breakdown of down payments, closing costs, reserves, and the smaller line items most first-time buyers don't see coming.
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Investment & Business Financing
Financing built for portfolios, not paychecks.
Real estate investing has its own language, its own math, and its own loan programs. We help active investors finance rentals, flips, bridges, and second-position deals without forcing the file through a traditional W-2 box.
Corie Adams · Producing Branch Manager · NMLS #1875205
Who this is for
Whether this fits the plan you have.
Investor financing exists to solve problems traditional mortgages cannot. These are the situations where it tends to fit.
Rental property investors
You are qualifying on what the property earns rather than your personal tax returns, which matters most once your write-offs start reducing your reported income.
Investors scaling past 10 properties
Conventional financing caps at 10 financed properties per borrower. Investor programs are built to scale beyond that, into the dozens or more.
Self-employed borrowers
Business owners, 1099 contractors, and high-deduction filers whose Schedule C or K-1 does not reflect their real cash flow often qualify better on a loan that reads your deposits instead of your tax returns or on a DSCR program.
Buyers making a fast or non-contingent offer
Fix and flip loans and short-term financing that lets you move before the current property sells close quickly with lighter documentation, which matters at auction or when a seller wants a clean, non-contingent contract.
Flippers and BRRRR investors
Buy, renovate, rent, and refinance strategies need financing on both ends: a short-term loan for the purchase and rehab, then a long-term loan for the hold.
Entity purchasers
If you plan to hold title in an LLC, LP, or corporate entity for liability or tax planning, investor programs are built to expect that rather than treat it as an exception.
How it works
The path, step by step.
The exact steps depend on the program, but the sequence below covers how we typically approach an investor file.
We talk through the deal and the strategy
Buy and hold, flip, or bridge to a later refinance each point toward a different program. We start with your goal, not a generic application.
We underwrite the asset alongside you
Appraisal, rent comps, after-repair value, and your exit strategy carry real weight, sometimes as much as your credit score.
We match you to the right program
DSCR, bank statement, bridge, fix and flip, and purchase money second loans each solve a different problem. We compare the ones that fit your scenario.
You review reserves and entity details
If you are closing in an LLC or need reserves after settlement, we confirm those details early so they do not surprise you during underwriting.
We move through underwriting and closing
Bridge and fix and flip files can close in as little as 7 to 14 business days from a complete file. DSCR and bank statement files follow a timeline closer to a standard mortgage.
Start with a real number, not an estimate.
A pre-approval reviews your income, assets, and credit so you know the price range you can actually work with before you tour a home or sign a builder contract.
Requirements at a glance
What underwriting looks at.
Requirements vary by program. These are typical expectations across the investor loan family rather than fixed rules.
- Financed property limit
- None for DSCR, bank statement, and bridge programs, unlike the 10-property conventional cap
- Income documentation
- Often none required for DSCR loans; 12 to 24 months of bank statements for bank statement loans
- Down payment
- Commonly 20 to 25 percent for DSCR purchases; program-specific for bridge and fix and flip
- Entity closings
- LLC, LP, or corporate entity closings are expected on most investor programs
- Rate premium
- Typically one to three percentage points above owner-occupied pricing
- Speed
- Bridge and fix and flip loans often close in 7 to 14 business days from a complete file
- Underwriting focus
- Property cash flow, deposit activity, or deal economics, depending on the program
Guidelines vary by lender and program and change over time. Nothing here is a commitment to lend or an approval of credit.
Costs and assumptions
What it costs, and what we assumed.
Costs differ by program, but investors generally weigh the same categories when comparing structures.
Rate premium versus owner-occupied
Investor rates typically run one to three percentage points higher. The right deal still produces a workable cash-on-cash return, which we model before you commit.
Down payment or equity requirement
DSCR purchases commonly need 20 to 25 percent down. Bridge and fix and flip loans are often sized against purchase price and after-repair value instead.
Reserves
Some programs expect liquid reserves after closing, particularly as you carry more financed properties.
Common misconceptions
What people get told, and what is actually true.
Often heard
Investor loans require perfect personal income documentation.
In practice
DSCR loans qualify on the property's rental income, and bank statement loans use deposit activity instead of tax returns.
Often heard
You cannot scale past 10 financed properties.
In practice
That cap applies to conventional financing. DSCR, bank statement, and bridge programs have no such limit.
Often heard
Fast closings mean sloppy underwriting.
In practice
Bridge and fix and flip loans move quickly because the underwriting prioritizes the deal, the equity, and your experience rather than a long income-document list.
Often heard
You cannot close in an LLC.
In practice
Most consumer mortgages do not allow this, but investor loans expect it. Entity closings are standard practice for DSCR, bridge, and fix and flip programs.
Often heard
First-time investors cannot qualify.
In practice
DSCR and bank statement programs are friendly to first-time investors as long as the property's numbers support the loan.
Questions
Asked at the kitchen table.
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