Multi-Family & Mixed-Use Loans
Past the fourplex, the rules change. So do the lenders.
Four units is where residential mortgage lending ends and something else begins. A five-unit building is commercial property to almost every lender, appraised with a narrative report, underwritten on its rent roll, and closed in the name of an entity. Most residential shops simply stop. This page is the ones that do not: three lenders with printed grids for five-to-eight-unit buildings, qualified on the property’s own income, and one lender that goes further still — into mixed-use buildings and outright commercial property, to five million dollars. Every loan here is business-purpose, on property you will not live in.
Who this is built for
Investors stepping up from a fourplex
The fifth unit is a cliff most residential lenders will not step off. Three lenders here publish grids that start exactly there, at leverage not far below what a fourplex gets.
Owners of a stabilized building who want the equity out
Cash-out exists on every grid on this page, and one lender caps it at a million dollars in hand — real money from a building that has earned it.
Buyers of a corner building with a shop downstairs
A mixed-use property — residential above, commercial below — fails residential underwriting on sight. One lender here treats it as a category of its own, to five million dollars.
Foreign investors looking at bigger buildings
Most foreign-national programs stop at a fourplex. Two lenders on this page go further: one into five-to-eight units with US credit, one into commercial property with none.
Send the address, the unit count and the rent roll. The coverage ratio falls out of that in minutes, and which of the four doors fits — including whether the building is residential, mixed-use or commercial in the lenders’ eyes — is usually settled in the first conversation.
Send the rent rollThe fifth unit is a cliff, not a step
Residential lending stops at four units. Above that the building is commercial property — different appraisal, different underwriting, and a much shorter list of lenders.
Three facts from the current matrices that decide a five-plus-unit file before the grid is consulted:
Put together, the routing question on a bigger building is rarely about leverage — the three residential grids sit within a few points of each other. It is about the borrower’s experience, the county, the unit count, and whether anything in the building is not a home. Answer those four and the door is usually obvious.
| Experience is a gate on one door and not another | One requires it; one waives it | The first grid needs a track record of owning income property. The second takes a first-time investor with clean housing history. Same building, different answer, decided by your résumé. |
| Four Florida counties are closed on one program | Charlotte, Lee, Hendry, Glades | One lender does not finance investment property there at all. A Fort Myers or Cape Coral building simply uses a different grid on this page — but you need to know which. |
| Nine units, a shop downstairs, or a warehouse each change the lender | Reach is per program | Two grids stop at eight units; one reaches nine; only one touches mixed-use or commercial. The building’s shape picks the door before the numbers do. |
Program parameters reflect the lenders’ current published matrices and change without notice. Business-purpose loans on investment property. Not all applicants or properties will qualify.
How it actually works
The property qualifies itself — the same coverage arithmetic as a rental house, with a commercial file wrapped around it.
The rent roll is the income
No personal tax returns. Gross rents from the leases, less any management fee on the appraisal, divided by the full payment. A ratio of 1.00 means the building carries itself; one lender wants 1.15.
Vacant units count, at a discount
Every grid here allows some vacancy on a purchase — two units on two programs, three on a seven-plus-unit building on the third — counted at three-quarters of market rent, provided they are listed and lease-ready.
The appraisal is a commercial document
Not a house appraisal. A commercial narrative or agency small-income form, usually with a broker price opinion alongside, and one lender inspects every unit inside with photographs. More cost, more calendar — build it into the contract.
Title goes to an entity, and experience matters
Loans close to an LLC with a personal guaranty. One lender requires a track record of owning and managing income property; another explicitly opens the door to a first-time investor with clean housing history.
Three grids, and a fourth door
Three lenders print five-to-eight-unit grids; each gets its own table and its own rules. The fourth table is the one lender on this shelf that documents mixed-use and commercial property. Figures from different programs never combine.
One lender’s five-to-eight-unit residential investment property matrix, effective 06/08/2026, read across all three purposes. The 700 and 720 rows are identical at most sizes; the 680 row is the door worth knowing about:
| The file | Maximum financing | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| To $1.5 million — purchase or rate-and-term | 75% | From a 700 score. At 680: 70% on a purchase, 65% on a rate-and-term |
| To $1.5 million — cash-out | 65% | From 700; 60% at 680 |
| To $2 million — purchase | 70% | From 700; 65% at 680 |
| To $2 million — rate-and-term | 70% at 720, 65% at 700 | 65% at 680 |
| To $2 million — cash-out | 65% | From 700; 60% at 680 |
| To $2.5 million — purchase | 65% | From 700. Not offered at 680 above $2 million |
| To $2.5 million — either refinance | 60% | From 700 |
| To $3 million — purchase | 60% | From 700; rate-and-term 55%. No cash-out printed at this size |
This program asks for an experienced investor — at least one borrower with a history of owning and managing income property — and it is strict about what a lease is: individual room leases, single-room occupancy and boarder arrangements do not count, and short-term rental income is treated as a vacant unit with no income at all. Vacant units are otherwise counted at three-quarters of market rent, two at most. Any bankruptcy, foreclosure, short sale or modification must be more than three years behind you. The appraisal must be under 120 days old with a full interior inspection of every unit, and where a broker price opinion comes in more than ten percent under the appraisal, the lower figure governs. Cash in hand on a refinance is capped at one million dollars, at 65% financing. Rural properties and leaseholds are outside the program, and loans start at $350,000.
Representative of one lender’s DSCR 5–8 Unit Residential matrix effective 06/08/2026, read across purchase, rate-and-term and cash-out at each credit tier. Business-purpose loans on non-owner-occupied residential property of five to eight units; minimum coverage ratio 1.00 with qualifying rents reduced by any management fee on the appraisal. Experienced-investor requirement, vacancy, lease-type, seasoning, appraisal and cash-in-hand rules are as published in that source. Maximum financing, credit score and loan amount are separate limits shown only in the combinations printed together. Minimum loan $350,000. Not all applicants or properties will qualify.
A second lender’s five-to-eight-unit investment property program, matrix dated 08/03/2026 — a single 720 credit row across all sizes, and a door the first grid does not have:
| The file | Purchase and rate-and-term | Cash-out |
|---|---|---|
| To $1.5 million | 75% | 70% — from a 720 score |
| To $2 million | 75% purchase, 70% rate-and-term | 65% |
| To $2.5 million | 70% | 65% |
| To $3 million | 70% | 65% |
The door the first grid lacks: this program takes a first-time investor, provided the housing history is spotless for two years or the borrower’s own home is owned outright — a first-time homebuyer, though, is not permitted. It also runs a foreign-national ladder inside the program for borrowers who can meet its US credit requirements: 70% to $2 million, 65% to $2.5 million and 60% to $3 million on a purchase, with cash-out ten points under at each step. Vacancy is generous — up to three vacant units on a building of seven or more, at three-quarters of market rent, listed and lease-ready. Cash-out is capped at one million dollars. Reserves scale with the loan, from six months to twelve. The appraisal is an agency small-income form under $750,000, with a second appraisal above two million unless a commercial narrative is provided, and a broker price opinion on every file; a declining market takes five points off above 65% financing. Units must be at least 400 square feet, rural property is out, and neither the borrower nor family may ever live in the building. One geography point matters here more than anywhere else on this site: this lender does not finance investment property in Charlotte, Lee, Hendry or Glades counties — so a Fort Myers, Cape Coral or Punta Gorda building goes to a different door on this page.
Representative of a second lender’s DSCR Multi (5–8 Unit) matrix dated 08/03/2026. Business-purpose loans on non-owner-occupied residential property of five to eight units; minimum coverage ratio 1.00. Minimum credit score 720 for all borrowers; first-time investors eligible subject to housing-history conditions; foreign-national eligibility subject to that program’s US credit requirements at the reduced financing shown. Maximum cash-out $1,000,000. Reserve, vacancy, appraisal, declining-market and property-condition requirements are as published. Investment property in Charlotte, Lee, Hendry and Glades counties, Florida, is ineligible with this lender. Minimum loan $250,000. Figures do not combine with the other tabs. Not all applicants or properties will qualify.
A third lender’s five-to-nine-unit investment property program, effective 08/04/2026 — the same grid the DSCR page carries, restated here so you do not have to leave. It reaches nine units and asks for more cushion:
| The file | Maximum financing | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase or rate-and-term — to $2.5 million | 75% | From a 700 score; 70% at 680 |
| Cash-out | 70% | From 700; 65% at 680 |
| The coverage bar | 1.15 | Fifteen percent of cushion over the payment, where the other two grids accept 1.00 |
The conditions are the stiffest of the three: two clean years of housing history, a full seven years since any major credit event, six months of reserves, loans from $350,000, at most two vacant units at three-quarters of market rent, title held in an entity with a personal guaranty, and a commercial narrative appraisal with a broker price opinion on top. No first-time investors and no short-term rental income. What it gives back is the ninth unit — the other two programs stop at eight — and a lender whose one-to-four grid separately corroborates its rules, which is worth something when a file sits near a line.
Representative of a third lender’s DSCR 5–9 Unit matrix effective 08/04/2026, identical to the figures published on this site’s DSCR page. Business-purpose loans on non-owner-occupied residential property of five to nine units; minimum coverage ratio 1.15. Housing history, seasoning, reserve, vacancy, vesting and appraisal requirements are as published. Minimum loan $350,000. Figures do not combine with the other tabs. Not all applicants or properties will qualify.
The three grids above are residential — five to nine apartments. A building with a shop, an office or a warehouse in it is a different animal, and one lender on this shelf documents it as investment property, on printed terms, effective 07/24/2026:
| The property | Maximum financing | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Five-plus unit multi-family, and mixed-use — to $5 million | 75% | From a 650 score; 70% on any loan above $1 million |
| Commercial — office, retail, warehouse, self-storage, automotive — to $5 million | 70% | From 650 |
| Any of the above, for a foreign investor with no US credit | 65% | To $5 million |
| One-to-four unit investment property | 75% | From 650, to $2 million |
Three things make this door unusual. It is the only documented route on this shelf to mixed-use and commercial property — a claim other lenders make on their websites and this one prints in a matrix. It reaches a foreign investor with no US credit at all, into commercial property types, which no other foreign-national program here does. And it allows a second lien behind it to 90% combined, which is rare on business-purpose property. The rules: loans run from $75,000, with a $100,000 minimum on multi-family, mixed-use and commercial; a first-time investor takes five points less; a first-time buyer is not eligible on a one-unit property; taxes and insurance are escrowed; nationwide with exceptions. The same lender runs an equity lane for investors whose credit has been through something — 50% financing on a purchase, on any property type including commercial, to $5 million, with no printed credit floor — which is the door for a strong building owned by a borrower with a weak score. Buildings that need work before they can be stabilized have their own instruments on the bridge page.
Representative of one lender’s rate sheet v66 effective 07/24/2026 and its published program descriptions. Business-purpose loans on non-owner-occupied property; personal income is not used to qualify. Property categories, maximum financing, credit score and loan amount are separate limits shown only in the combinations printed together; loans above $1,000,000 are limited to 70% financing; first-time investors are reduced by five points. Combined financing to 90% requires an eligible second lien. Minimum loan $75,000, or $100,000 for multi-family, mixed-use and commercial property. The equity lane referenced finances 50% of purchase price with no minimum credit score printed. Availability is nationwide with exceptions as published. Rate, term, interest-only and prepayment provisions are disclosed per file. Figures do not combine with the other tabs. Not all applicants or properties will qualify.
The boundaries that decide these files
What you actually hand over
The rent roll and the leases
Every unit, every lease, every rent. This is the income file — it replaces your tax returns entirely.
Proof of experience, where a lender asks
Documentation of owning and managing income property, for the grid that requires it. The other grids ask instead for clean housing history.
The entity
Formation documents and the guaranty. Title on a five-plus-unit building goes to an LLC, and the lender will want to see it.
The building’s condition
The commercial appraisal does the work, but the file wants the vacant units listed and lease-ready, no fair-or-poor condition ratings, and on one program at least 400 square feet per unit.
Reserves
Six to twelve months of the payment depending on loan size and lender — a larger figure than on a house, and on one program cash-out proceeds may count toward it.
Where it wins — and the honest trade-offs
Told straight, because this page is useless otherwise.
Rent roll over payment. No personal income documentation on any grid here — which is the whole reason an investor with a complicated return can own a twelve-unit building.
Seventy-five percent to a million and a half on two of the three grids. The fifth unit costs less in leverage than most investors fear.
Printed terms, to five million, from a 650 score. On most shelves this category is a phone call and a shrug.
A first-time investor on one grid, a foreign national with US credit on the same one, a foreign investor with none on the fourth, and a 50% equity lane for a bruised score. Few five-plus-unit shelves are this wide.
A building that does not cover its payment from actual or lease-ready rents does not qualify on any grid here; there is no sub-1.00 band on this page. The rent roll is the underwrite.
Commercial appraisals, broker price opinions, a second appraisal at size, entity formation and a personal guaranty. The transaction costs more and takes longer, and the contract dates should say so.
Seventy-five at a million and a half becomes sixty to sixty-five at three million on every grid. A bigger building means more of your own capital, not less.
Two more lenders on this shelf run five-to-ten-unit and mixed-use programs whose terms are not yet cleared to publish. If the four doors here do not fit, the honest answer is to ask rather than to assume the building is unfinanceable.
Send the rent roll
The address, the unit count and the rents. The coverage ratio falls out in minutes, and between your experience, the county and what is in the building, the right door on this page is usually clear in the first conversation. If none of the four fits, I will say so — and I will say which lenders I still have to ask.
Questions people actually ask
Open the full Q&A — the commercial appraisal, vacancies, the four counties, and what counts as mixed-use ▾
+Why does everything change at five units?
Because at five units the property stops being “residential” in the lending sense and becomes commercial real estate. The appraisal changes form, the underwriting moves from the borrower to the rent roll, the title goes to an entity, and most residential lenders simply stop. The three grids here exist precisely for the buildings on the far side of that line.
+Can I qualify with no experience owning rentals?
On one of the three grids, yes — provided your housing history is clean for two years or you own your own home outright. Another grid requires a documented track record of owning and managing income property. The third excludes first-time investors. Which door is open depends on your history, and it is worth knowing before you choose a building.
+What if some units are empty?
Every grid allows some vacancy on a purchase — two units on two programs, three on a seven-or-more-unit building on the third — counted at three-quarters of market rent, as long as they are listed for rent and ready to lease. Beyond that, the coverage ratio usually fails, and the building becomes a different kind of project.
+My building is in Fort Myers. Does that matter?
On one program, yes: that lender does not finance investment property in Charlotte, Lee, Hendry or Glades counties, which covers Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Punta Gorda and the inland counties east of them. The other three doors on this page carry no such exclusion, so the building is financeable — just not everywhere on this page.
+What counts as mixed-use?
A building with both residential units and commercial space — the classic shop downstairs with apartments above. The residential grids will not touch it; the fourth door treats it as its own category, to five million dollars at 75% from a 650 score. Pure commercial property — office, retail, warehouse, self-storage, automotive — is the same lender at 70%.
+Can a foreign national buy a bigger building?
Two ways. One residential grid runs a foreign-national ladder for borrowers who can meet its US credit requirements — 70% to two million on a purchase, stepping down with size. The mixed-use and commercial lender goes further: 65% to five million with no US credit at all, on any property type it finances. The foreign-national page covers the one-to-four-unit programs.
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Loan programs, explained honestly
The programs described are business-purpose loans on non-owner-occupied investment property offered through third-party lenders, subject to lender approval and underwriting approval, and change without notice; they are not consumer credit and are not available to finance property the borrower or the borrower’s family will occupy. The first three tables are representative of three lenders’ five-to-eight or five-to-nine-unit DSCR matrices effective 06/08/2026, 08/03/2026 and 08/04/2026 respectively; the fourth is representative of a fourth lender’s rate sheet and program descriptions effective 07/24/2026. Figures from different programs never combine. Maximum financing, credit score, loan amount and coverage ratio are separate limits shown only in combinations printed together in each source, and are subject to commercial appraisal, broker price opinion, reserves, vacancy, experience, entity-vesting and property-condition requirements as each lender publishes. Qualifying income is derived from the property’s rent roll as each lender specifies. Geographic eligibility varies by lender; one program excludes investment property in Charlotte, Lee, Hendry and Glades counties, Florida. Rate, term, interest-only and prepayment provisions are disclosed per file. Not all applicants or properties will qualify. This is not a commitment to lend. Equal Housing Opportunity.