DSCR Loan Calculator
A DSCR lender does not check your income. It checks whether the property pays for itself. This calculator gives you the ratio, the largest loan that ratio supports, and the down payment that implies, so you know your position before you call a lender. Nothing is saved, and there is no email wall.
This falls short of the 1.25 floor. You would need more rent, a bigger down payment, or lower expenses to qualify.
Limited by DSCR at these numbers.
The most debt a 1.25 ratio supports.
80% of the purchase price.
Rent after the vacancy allowance.
What the lender divides by your payment.
Principal and interest.
The rent that would put you exactly at 1.25 on the loan above.
Estimates only, for education. DSCR underwriting counts taxes, insurance, HOA, and management, but usually not CapEx reserves, so this NOI runs higher than the one you should use to judge whether a deal is actually worth buying. Every lender writes its own guidelines. Confirm the ratio, the LTV cap, and the rate with the lender before you rely on this.
What the numbers mean
DSCR is the whole conversation with this kind of lender. Above the floor and the file moves. Below it, no amount of personal income fixes the problem, because your income was never part of the test. The property either covers its payment or it does not.
The binding constraint tells you what to negotiate. If loan-to-value caps you, you simply need more cash and the deal still works. If DSCR caps you, the property is not producing enough relative to its price, and a larger down payment is you papering over a weak deal with your own money. That distinction is worth sitting with.
Watch the rent-needed-to-qualify figure. If it is meaningfully above what comparable units actually rent for in that neighborhood, the deal does not work at this price no matter how it is financed. For the full picture on this loan type, read DSCR loans for rental property, and see how to finance a rental property for how it compares to the alternatives. To judge whether the deal is actually good rather than merely financeable, run the rental cashflow calculator, which holds back the CapEx reserves a lender ignores.
DSCR loan questions
How is DSCR calculated?
DSCR is annual net operating income divided by annual debt service. Net operating income is rent after a vacancy allowance, minus taxes, insurance, HOA, maintenance, and management. Debt service is twelve months of principal and interest. A DSCR of 1.25 means the property produces 25% more income than its loan payment consumes.
What DSCR do lenders require?
Most DSCR programs want 1.20 to 1.25 as a floor, and price the best rates at 1.25 and above. Some lenders will go down to 1.00, meaning the property exactly covers its payment, usually in exchange for a lower loan-to-value or a higher rate. Below 1.00 the property does not cover its own debt and few programs will touch it.
Do DSCR loans check my income?
No. That is the point of the product. A DSCR lender underwrites the property's ability to pay for itself, not your tax returns or your W-2. Credit score, reserves, and the property's numbers still matter, but self-employed buyers and investors with several properties often find DSCR loans far easier to close than conventional financing.
Does interest-only improve my DSCR?
Yes, meaningfully. Removing the principal portion lowers the monthly payment, which raises the ratio and can qualify you for a larger loan. The trade is real: you build no equity during the interest-only period, and the payment jumps when it ends. Use it deliberately, not to force a deal that does not work.
Why does this show a different NOI than the cashflow calculator?
DSCR underwriting typically counts taxes, insurance, HOA, maintenance, and management, but not capital expenditure reserves for roofs and HVAC systems. That makes the lender's NOI higher than the one you should use to judge whether a deal is worth owning. Qualifying for a loan and having a good deal are two separate tests.
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