I've been in the market for a few months and was wondering if there were any lenders in the DMV area that offered non-occupant loans with low down payments (5-10%). I'm currently a veteran but would like to use my VA loan for multi-family properties with 3-4units because they are generally priced higher (400k and up) I would use the non-occupant loan for houses with basement apartments(1b,1ba), usually priced at 250k and lower.

You are going to be hard pressed to find any lender who will give you an investment loan for under 20% down.

Have you considered house-hacking a 1-4 unit with your VA? If you buy a 4-plex with your VA (for example), live in 1 unit, and rent out the other 3. That would be totally doable.

Plus, if the other units are already rented, the lender will be able to use up to 75% of the rental income to help you qualify for the purchase.

Hope that helps.

The lowest down payment for an investment property allowed by Fannie Mae is 15%.  Very few lenders will actually go down to the minimum.  You might want to touch base with @Upen Patel to see if his bank goes down to the Fannie minimum.

Hi! @Russell Brazil Thanks for the mention.

@Antone JAmes As Russell mentioned, for a conventional loan the min is 15% down for a 1-unit. If you are looking to buy a multi unit investment then the min is 25% down. You can always get lower down payment with a portfolio loan, but you will take a hit on rate/points.

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Originally posted by @Cara Lonsdale :

You are going to be hard pressed to find any lender who will give you an investment loan for under 20% down.

Have you considered house-hacking a 1-4 unit with your VA? If you buy a 4-plex with your VA (for example), live in 1 unit, and rent out the other 3. That would be totally doable.

Plus, if the other units are already rented, the lender will be able to use up to 75% of the rental income to help you qualify for the purchase.

Hope that helps.

Are you saying that if you have 20% down, that most lenders can use 75% of the current rental income towards qualifying? If so, that's awesome. 

The two are separate are separate issues, but yes.  Lenders can use established rental income to help you qualify for the property.  Typically that is about 75% of the income, although they have a process for coming to that figure.

Regarding down payment, usually you can find a lender who will do 20% down on a 1-4 unit for your first 4 properties.  Once you have 4 loans out there, then the lender usually will require 25% down for properties 5-10.

House hack that VA loan! I wish I could go back in time and do it myself. One option is to pick the place you want, use your VA loan to purchase it, and refinance it at a future date. This would allow you to use your VA loan again.