Option A
Conventional · Golden Tickets
The most competitive money an investor can get. Use these first.
10financed properties per investor
(couples and partners each get ten)
(couples and partners each get ten)
Comparison · Strategy
DSCR vs. Conventional Loans: How to Break the 10-property limit.
From a 30,000-foot view
Keep reading for the full breakdownConventional loans (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) are typically the most competitive money an investor can get, but you only get ten financed properties per qualified person. A couple or business partners qualifying separately each eligible for their own ten. We call those slots your Golden Tickets. Here is the part most investors get wrong: a DSCR loan spends one too. Its personal guarantee counts against the ten even when the loan is vested in an LLC. What DSCR gives you is different. It qualifies on the property's cash flow, has no personal DTI test, and carries no cap of its own, so it keeps you buying after conventional stops. The move is not DSCR instead of conventional. It is conventional first, in the right order, then DSCR and non-QM to keep buying past the limit.
01 ·The Limit
The 10-property limit, explained
Conventional financing runs to ten financed properties per qualified investor. A couple or business partners qualifying separately each eligible for their own ten. Those are your Golden Tickets: the most competitive pricing and the most borrowing power available to an investor. They are the first product we reach for with newer investors, for a reason. And the count is broader than most people think: any residential property with a loan in your name or personally guaranteed by you, DSCR included, takes a slot.
02 ·The Wall
Why you hit the wall
Two things stop most investors. The Golden Ticket count runs out, and at many lenders it runs out early, because their overlays cap you at fewer than the ten Fannie and Freddie actually allow. Or the debt-to-income math stops working as the portfolio grows and Schedule E fills up with expenses that cannot be added back. Either way, a lender who only sells conventional has nothing left to offer, so the answer becomes a “no.” That “no” is usually the box they sell out of, not your actual qualifying picture.
An investor we talked to had been told he was maxed out at four properties, and had been sitting on that no for three months. He had six Golden Tickets left and did not know it.
Illustrative scenario. Details anonymized.
03 ·Side by Side
How conventional and DSCR actually differ
Option B
DSCR
Qualifies on the property, not you.
No DTIthe property's cash flow
does the qualifying
does the qualifying
Head to head
Conventional
DSCR
Counts toward your 10
Conventional
Yes, each one spends a Golden Ticket
DSCR
Yes, the personal guarantee counts against the ten too
Cap of its own
Conventional
Ten financed properties per qualified investor
DSCR
None. No limit on how many financed properties you hold
Qualifies on
Conventional
Your personal income and DTI
DSCR
The property's cash flow (rent vs. payment)
Personal DTI requirement
Conventional
Yes, it matters
DSCR
None
Documentation
Conventional
Full income docs and tax returns
DSCR
No personal tax returns; property-performance based
Pricing, relative
Conventional
The most competitive money an investor can get
DSCR
Generally a bit higher than conventional
Best for
Conventional
Your first 10 financed properties
DSCR
Scaling past the limit, or when DTI gets in the way
Pricing is described in relative terms only. Specific rates, APRs, and terms vary by occupancy, credit, LTV, loan size, and the deal, and are subject to change. This is educational content, not a rate quote or a commitment to lend.
04 ·The Strategy
How to actually break the limit
The order matters more than any single product. Here is the sequence we run with investors who want to keep buying.
- 01
Use your Golden Tickets first, in the right order
Conventional is typically the most competitive money you can get, and every personally guaranteed residential loan, DSCR included, counts against the ten. Spend the slots deliberately before you reach for anything else.
- 02
Watch DTI and Schedule E along the way
Depreciation gets added back, but most other costs you expense are ones your next conventional lender will not be able to add back. Expensing for the wrong year can quietly cost you an approval.
- 03
Pivot to DSCR and non-QM near the ceiling
When the slots run low, or when DTI stops cooperating, move to DSCR. The property's cash flow carries the loan, there is no personal DTI test, and DSCR has no cap of its own on financed properties.
- 04
Layer entity and commercial structures
For the back half of a portfolio, non-recourse blanket commercial loans cross-collateralize properties under one loan, held by an entity. Because there is no personal guarantee, they stop counting against the ten, and can even free slots back up.
Want the product that turns your income into faster payoff once you are scaling? Read about the All In One Loan™.
05 ·FAQ
Questions, plainly answered
Ten financed properties per qualified individual. A married couple qualifying separately reaches twenty, and business partners are each eligible for their own ten as well. We call those slots your Golden Tickets.
Keep Going
Related reading
Scaling Past 10 Properties
The full order of operations for spending Golden Tickets and keeping buying past the Fannie Mae limit.
Read the breakdownRental Portfolio Loans
Roll several properties into one loan. Written non-recourse, consolidation can free Golden Ticket slots back up.
Read the breakdownFinancing Real Estate Under an LLC
Which loans close in an entity, and how conventional properties move into an LLC after closing.
Read the breakdownFind out how many Golden Tickets you are actually sitting on.
Twenty minutes with a real person. No SSN to start. We count what you have left and map the order of operations for your next few deals.
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