Refinancing with a conventional lender with more than four mortgages
If you want to refinance any of your properties and you already have four mortgages, most banks will only allow a 70% loan to value ratio and probably won’t allow you to take any cash out. Personally I think this type of refinance leaves a lot to be desired. One of the keys to my rental strategy is being able to take cash out when refinancing my rentals. I then take that cash out money and invest in more rental properties. Lenders will say it is too risky to do a cash-out refinance for investors with more than four mortgages. In my opinion if an investor has the cash to put 20% down and has the cash reserves needed, they less risky than the first time home buyer putting 3.5% or less down.
Homepath is a great program for investors that want to finance more than four properties
There is a special program Fannie Mae offers on their foreclosed properties. Fannie Mae uses a program called HomePath to market and sell properties they have foreclosed on. If an investor purchases a Fannie Mae HomePath property, Fannie Mae says they will allow banks to loan on up to 20 mortgages for one investor! Again, finding a lender that will be okay with those guidelines is very tough. Last I checked, Prospect Mortgage worked very close with Fannie Mae and may allow up to 20 mortgages for an investor. Fannie Mae also only requires investors to put 10% down on investor loans on their HomePath properties.
A portfolio lender will finance more than four mortgages and possibly many more
Local lenders who offer portfolio financing are another (my favorite) option for investors. It can take some research, time and networking to find a portfolio lender, but they have much looser lending guidelines. Portfolio lending means the bank is using their own money to fund deals and they don’t have to use Fannie Mae guidelines. My portfolio lender has no limits on how many loans they will give to investors as long as they have the cash, reserves and income to support the mortgages. They allow 20% down on those properties and don’t require your life’s history to give you the loan.
There are some drawbacks with a portfolio lender. With my local bank they do not offer a 30 year fixed mortgage. They offer 15 year fixed, 5/30 and 7/30 ARMs. For me a 5/30 ARM is perfect, because I want the lowest rate possible and I want to pay off my loans quickly. The local bank charges slightly higher rates and origination fees, but not by much. My last loan on my tenth mortgage was a 5/30 ARM at 4.815% (November 2013). This interest rate was .5% higher than my other loans, because it was my tenth mortgage. The local bank will also require you to move all your accounts over to them, but that is a small price to pay for investor loans.
How to find a portfolio lender who will finance more than four properties
There is no guide or website that lists all the portfolio lenders, at least that I have found. In order to find a portfolio lender it takes some leg work. First step is to ask everyone you know in the Real Estate industry. Ask Realtors, lenders, title companies, property managers and other investors. Local Real Estate investor clubs may be able to provide information on portfolio lenders as well. If you can’t find a portfolio lender through word of mouth, try calling local banks. Ask banks if they loan their own money, what their policies are for investors and if they don’t offer the right terms ask them who might. Here is a great article with much more information on how to find a portfolio lender.
How to find a national lender that will finance more than four mortgages?
There are some new programs available from national companies that allow investors to get bulk loans on their rental properties. B2R and First Key are two companies offering loans that start from $500,000 and go all the way up to $100,000,000. The loans are much different from traditional single family loans, but these companies lend nationally. To get more details on the program check out this article.
Conclusion
There are ways to finance more than four properties even though many people will tell you it is impossible. Try talking to a mortgage broker who can get you in touch with banks that will finance more than four properties. If you have a big goal like myself like buying 100 properties in the next ten years. Then you will need a portfolio lender who will finance more than four, more than 10 and more than 20 properties.