Rental Property Financing
Financing decides whether a good property is a good deal. Down payment, rate, PITI, DSCR-loan qualification, and the refi exit all move your returns. These guides cover the choices; the calculators size the payment and the cash to close.
Guides
PITI explained: the real monthly payment on a rental (2026)
PITI (principal, interest, taxes and insurance) is a rental's real monthly payment. On a $250k rental at 7% with 25% down, taxes and insurance add about $400 a month on top of the loan. How to estimate each part, handle escrow, and turn the payment into DSCR.
11 min readHow much money do you need to buy a rental property? Cash-to-close worked at $150K, $300K, and $500K
Total cash to buy a rental runs about 1.4 to 1.7x the down payment: about $50,700 for a $150K rental, $89,400 for a $300K and $142,200 for a $500K. Full line-item math for each tier, including the two buckets most estimates omit: prepaids and lender reserves.
12 min readHow much down payment do you need for an investment property? (2026)
Conventional investment loans start at 15% down on a single-family rental and 25% on a 2–4 unit. Worked cash-on-cash and DSCR math on a $250k rental at 15%, 20% and 25% down, why more down can raise the return when the loan constant tops the cap rate, and the owner-occupied house-hack route in for $8,750.
11 min readMortgage points on an investment property: compare the actual quotes
Points trade cash at closing for a lower rate. How to use a lender's written rate-and-fee ladder to compare point cost, payment savings, break-even, DSCR and cash-on-cash, and why the tax treatment depends on your own facts.
11 min readHow to refinance a rental property — rate-and-term, cash-out, and DSCR options
How to refinance a rental property: rate-and-term vs cash-out, LTV and DSCR considerations, the break-even math, and five mistakes to avoid.
10 min readClosing costs on an investment property: build the property-specific stack
Estimate cash to close on an investment property from the lender, title, government, insurer, tax and contract documents. A hypothetical $250k example walks through lender fees, title, transfer taxes and prepaids, and how they fold into cash to close.
11 min readCash-out refinance vs HELOC on a rental: which pulls equity better in 2026?
Two ways to pull equity from a rental, with different eligibility and terms. How a cash-out refinance and a HELOC work on an investment property, why replacing a low-rate first mortgage changes the math, and an illustrative side-by-side of the cost.
11 min readSeller financing and subject-to: creative deals explained (2026)
How seller financing and subject-to deals work, the due-on-sale risk that defines subject-to, where Dodd-Frank does and doesn't apply to investors, and how to underwrite the gap between a seller's older low-rate loan and today's rates with the downside priced in.
11 min readHard money vs DSCR: which loan product is right for your next deal in 2026
Hard money and DSCR loans solve different problems: hard money is short-term capital for a deal you'll rehab and exit; DSCR is long-term capital for a rental you'll hold. How each is structured, compared through an illustrative BRRRR sequence.
11 min readDebt-to-income ratio for an investment property: how lenders count rental income (2026)
An illustrative debt-to-income calculation for a rental. Under the common 75%-of-gross-rent method, a $250K rental earning $446 a month over its payment still adds a −$79 monthly debt. Plus a house-hack example and the DSCR-loan alternative. Actual lender methods and approval requirements vary.
11 min readNegative leverage in real estate: when borrowing lowers your return (2026)
Leverage raises your return only when the asset out-earns the debt. The number that sets the sign (the loan constant, not the rate), the cap-rate-vs-loan-constant rule, a worked $300K property across five cap rates, and the deal that still cash-flows while leverage drags cash-on-cash below the all-cash return.
11 min readCalculators for this
Run a real deal
Reading is step one. Paste an address into TrueCap and get cap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCR, cash flow, and a Buy Box fit in 60 seconds — free.
Open TrueCapMore topics