That's plenty of experience, shouldn't have any issue with that. At 2 deals sometimes the conventional route still makes more sense, but if it's helpful to look at either possible option there happy to go through that for you. Feel free to reach out!
Hi Shea — for DSCR loans, lenders size mainly off the property's rent versus the full payment (principal, interest, taxes, insurance), usually looking for roughly a 1.20-1.25 ratio or better, plus your credit, reserves, and experience — and 2 deals under your belt does help versus a first-timer. Smaller local banks can be great, but some are stricter on investor count or portfolio size, while dedicated DSCR lenders tend to underwrite the deal itself more than the borrower. Having the property's rent, price or value, and a rough loan amount ready makes it much easier to get real terms. I am Marc with Royal Partners — if you want, DM me those basics on the property you are looking at and I will give you straight numbers on how it would likely pencil.
@Shea Templeton congratulations on your recent success! It might sound weird but only 4% of Americans own 2 properties. You are already in a great place!
Now, your post is a super important question and it doesn't just apply to lenders. How do you know that a contractor is any good? An electrician? A title company? Anything? Even if they do have 20 years experience...how do you know really? And while nothing is foolproof the most consistent method of finding good vendors is relying on OTHER real estate investors that have worked with those vendors. This is why we network with other real estate investors - kind of like what you are doing here!
So, let's try some local real estate meetup groups. Meetup.com is a good resource for those but some of the groups will also post here on Bigger Pockets Marketplace too. Even facebook might have some good local groups for you. Some of those facebook groups have thousands of members. The priority is consistent recommendations from active investors. Oh, eventbrite too. But post locally for this. That’s the best bet.
Hey Shea. 2 deals is great! It all depends on loan amounts. There are banks that go as low as 50k. You can DSCR below 1, you don't need to be at 1.2+. You can Dscr as low as 600 fico. It all depends on your specific scenario. I DM'd you, let's talk about some options depending on your scenario.
There are DSCR loan options for 1-4 units that go down to $75K appraised value for a ready to rent property and a $50K loan amount depending on credit score, LTV, etc. It's helpful to work with an experienced mortgage professional who specializes in DSCR loans as this will give you more and better options for rates and terms favorable to a real estate investor. There are some lending institutions that are better for conventional loans such as credit unions that are not as good for DSCR loans. That is because local banks and credit unions often have shorter loan terms and higher DSCR ratios required. Happy to connect to discuss further.