Most DSCR lenders require between 3 and 12 months of PITIA payments held in liquid reserves at closing. The most common baseline is 6 months, but the exact number depends on your credit profile, the property’s DSCR ratio, and the lender’s risk appetite.
No. You do not need a property under contract to start the DSCR financing process. But having one is what separates a preliminary conversation from a real, underwritable deal—and that distinction matters more than most investors realize.
Lenders do not use whatever rent number you put on the application. They verify rental income through the property appraisal and any existing lease, then typically use the lower of the two figures to calculate your DSCR. Understanding how this works before you submit a deal prevents surprises that kill timelines and ruin lender confidence.
Most DSCR loan denials are preventable. They almost never come from complex underwriting technicalities. They come from basic deal positioning problems that could have been caught before the file ever reached a lender.