REAL ESTATE INVESTOR FINANCING
Rate & Term Refinance
Refinance an existing rental loan on better terms.
Replace existing rental-property financing with new DSCR terms — a better rate, longer term, or lower payment — without pulling cash out. Qualified primarily on the property's rental income.
Available loan structures
Choose the structure that fits the hold
Structures are separate from your transaction purpose (purchase, refinance, cash-out, or portfolio). You don't need to understand these before applying — you can note a preference and we'll confirm the right fit for your scenario.
30-Year Fixed
Long-term stability with a traditional fully amortizing payment.
- Structure
- 30-year fixed-rate loan, fully amortizing principal + interest
- Maximum Leverage
- Up to 85% LTV on qualifying transactions
- Minimum DSCR
- 0.75x core guideline
- Credit Profile
- Approximately 660 core guideline
- Property Units
- Residential investment properties up to 10 units
- Rental Types
- Long-term and short-term
- Purposes
- Purchase, rate-and-term refinance, cash-out refinance
- Qualification
- No traditional personal-income qualification; primarily property income
- LTV Stacking
- Available
- Foreign National
- Options available
- Vesting
- LLC and individual options
- Typical Closing
- Approximately 2–3 weeks
- Investors wanting long-term payment predictability
- Properties with sufficient DSCR to support an amortizing payment
- Investors focused on principal paydown over time
- Investors wanting access to the maximum-leverage core DSCR platform
40-Year DSCR
10 years interest only, then 30 years amortizing — 40 years total.
- Structure
- 40-year total term: years 1–10 interest only, years 11–40 principal + interest amortized over the remaining 30 years
- Maximum Leverage
- Up to 85% LTV on qualifying transactions
- Minimum DSCR
- 0.75x core guideline
- Credit Profile
- Approximately 660 core guideline
- Property Units
- Properties up to 10 units
- Rental Types
- Long-term and short-term
- Purposes
- Purchase, rate-and-term refinance, cash-out refinance
- LTV Stacking
- Available
- Foreign National
- Options available
- Rate
- Structured as the applicable long-term DSCR program rate
- Primary Advantage
- First 10 years of interest-only payments reduce scheduled debt service, which may improve near-term cash flow, improve DSCR, and preserve investor liquidity
- Investors prioritizing monthly cash flow
- Properties where amortizing debt service makes DSCR tight
- Investors expecting to refinance or reposition before the IO period ends
- Portfolio investors trying to preserve monthly liquidity
Flexible 30-Year Fixed DSCR
30-year fixed, fully amortizing, with no-minimum-DSCR options.
- Structure
- 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, fully amortizing principal + interest
- Maximum Leverage
- Up to approximately 80% LTV purchase / rate-term; up to approximately 75% cash-out
- Minimum DSCR
- No minimum DSCR options
- Credit Profile
- Approximately 640 minimum
- Qualification
- No traditional debt-to-income qualification
- Rental Types
- Long-term, mid-term, short-term
- Occupancy
- Vacancy allowed on purchase
- STR History
- Not required on qualifying scenarios
- Property Units
- 1–10 unit residential investment properties
- Vesting
- Entities / LLCs / partners welcome
- Loan Range
- Approximately $100K–$3.5M+ on individual properties
- Blanket / Portfolio
- Up to approximately $5M
- Properties below 0.75x DSCR
- Properties with no meaningful DSCR
- Borrowers around 640–659 FICO
- Vacant rental acquisitions
Flexible 30-Year DSCR
10 years interest only, then 20 years amortizing — 30 years total.
- Structure
- 30-year total term: years 1–10 interest only, years 11–30 principal + interest amortized over the final 20 years
- Maximum Leverage
- Up to approximately 80% LTV purchase / rate-term; up to approximately 75% cash-out
- Minimum DSCR
- No minimum DSCR options
- Credit Profile
- Approximately 640 minimum
- Qualification
- No traditional debt-to-income qualification
- Rental Types
- Long-term, mid-term, short-term
- Occupancy
- Vacancy allowed on purchase
- STR History
- Not required on qualifying transactions
- Property Units
- 1–10 units
- Loan Range
- Approximately $100K–$3.5M+
- Blanket / Portfolio
- Up to approximately $5M
- Investors needing both flexible DSCR underwriting and lower early monthly payments
- Weak-cash-flow rentals
- Properties that do not fit the 0.75x core DSCR requirement
- Investors planning to refinance or sell within approximately the first 10 years
Typical Market
What investors commonly see in the market
Typical market ranges for DSCR rental financing across independent lenders. These are broad market reference points, not averages and not a guarantee — actual terms depend on the lender, property, borrower, and transaction.
- Maximum LTV
- Typical market range ~75–80% LTV (purchase/rate-term); cash-out often lower
- DSCR
- Many programs target ~1.0x+; no-minimum-DSCR options exist in the market
- Credit
- Typically mid-600s and up
- Qualification
- Primarily property rental income rather than personal W-2 income
- Term
- 30-year fixed and interest-only structures are common
- Property Units
- Residential investment properties, commonly 1–10 units
The four Green Fire Strategies loan structures shown below are separate from these market ranges — compare them directly.
Who
Who this product is for
Rate & Term Refinance is for investors with an existing rental loan who want better terms, a lower payment, or a longer amortization without taking cash out. That includes investors whose rates have improved, owners with a maturing short-term loan who want to lock in long-term DSCR terms, and investors who want to extend amortization to improve monthly cash flow.
What
What the financing does
A Rate & Term Refinance refinances the existing balance into new DSCR terms qualified on the property's rental income — no cash out. Because it does not return equity to the borrower, it typically qualifies at a higher LTV than cash-out and can be used to improve the payment, extend the term, or replace a maturing loan with permanent rental debt.
When
When an investor uses it
Use a Rate & Term Refinance when rates improve, your current loan is maturing, or a longer term would improve cash flow. It fits the moment when your existing terms no longer serve you — when refinancing the same balance on better DSCR terms would lower your payment or extend your amortization without reducing equity.
Why
Why use this instead of traditional financing
A rate-and-term refinance can lower your payment or extend your term without reducing equity, and DSCR terms can be preferable to a conventional refinance when qualification based on the property's rent matters more than personal income. The four structure options let you choose between a stable amortizing payment and a lower early interest-only payment, depending on your hold strategy and cash-flow priorities.
Use cases
Typical use cases
- Lowering the rate or payment on a rental
- Replacing a maturing short-term loan with long-term DSCR
- Extending amortization to improve cash flow
- Moving from a bridge loan into permanent rental debt
Process
How the loan works
- 1
Identify the goal
The investor wants a better rate, lower payment, or longer term on an existing rental loan without taking cash out.
- 2
Submit the deal
Current value, existing mortgage balance, monthly rent, annual taxes and insurance, and HOA are submitted.
- 3
DSCR estimate
The lender estimates the DSCR and the new payment under the available structures.
- 4
Underwriting
The provider verifies value, payoff, rent, and borrower profile, and confirms the structure.
- 5
Close the refinance
The existing loan is paid off and replaced with new DSCR terms — no cash out.
Underwriting
What lenders generally evaluate
A DSCR lender evaluates the property's rental income first and the borrower's profile second. On the property side, they verify the rent — projected or current — the value, the taxes, insurance, and HOA, and calculate the debt-service coverage ratio from the rent relative to the housing payment. On the borrower side, they review credit, liquidity and reserves, and entity structure. Because qualification is based primarily on the property's income rather than personal W-2 income, the strength of the rent and the accuracy of the expense figures are the most heavily weighted factors. No-minimum-DSCR structures relax the ratio requirement but still verify value, rent, and borrower credit.
Exit
Exit strategies
- Hold the property as a rental and service the refinanced debt from rent
- Take cash out later through a separate cash-out refinance if needed
- Sell the property if the strategy changes
Considerations
Important considerations
- Requires sufficient rental income relative to the payment (except no-minimum-DSCR structures)
- Reserves and experience may be required
- DSCR minimums and LTV vary by program and capital source
- Actual leverage and terms depend on the transaction, borrower, property, and capital source
Build toward the full capital requirement
Your first loan funds the property. Gap capital can fund the rest. Qualifying borrowers may be able to combine primary DSCR financing with eligible gap capital to address the down payment, closing costs, reserves, or other eligible deal costs — building toward 100% of the capital the deal requires when the combined structure qualifies. Gap Funding can complement DSCR financing just as it complements hard money.
- Primary Financing
- The DSCR loan — long-term rental financing qualified primarily on the property's rental income, up to 85% LTV on qualifying transactions.
- Gap Capital
- Eligible supplemental capital that may help cover the down payment, closing costs, reserves, or other eligible shortfalls the primary DSCR loan does not cover.
- Full-Capital Structure
- The combined stack. Potentially cover up to the full capital requirement when the combined structure qualifies and the primary lender's source-of-funds rules are satisfied.
100% financing is not guaranteed. The primary lender's source-of-funds, equity, reserve, and seasoning rules still control whether borrowed gap capital counts toward required liquidity. Qualify from a position of strength first, then preserve working capital when the structure permits.
Ready to apply for Rate & Term Refinance?
One focused application. No cost, no obligation, and no credit pull to request your terms.
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