How much cash do I need to buy a $250K rental with a DSCR loan?

The short answer, as of October 2026

• Down payment: $50,000, 20% of the price at 700+ credit.
• Closing costs: $11,523. No origination fee; lender fees, our 1% broker fee, title, insurance, escrow, prepaid interest and the appraisal.
• Reserves: $5,709, 3 months of the $1,903 payment, kept in your account.
• The rent has to cover the payment: $2,200 against $1,903 is a 1.16 DSCR.

Capital Kings LLC is a broker, not a lender. We compare every file across 400+ lenders and send the term sheet with every fee on it before you sign.

Every dollar, line by line

A $250,000 single-family rental renting for $2,200 a month, 745 credit, 30-year fixed. The real term sheet, every line labeled by who gets paid:

Open the full term sheet →

Cash to close$61,523

Proof of funds to show$67,232

Where the $61,523 goes

• Down paymentEquity$50,000
• Lender fees, underwriting and legalLender$2,295
• Broker feeBroker$2,000
• Closing / titleTitle co$3,571
• Property insuranceInsurer$1,250
• Escrow setup, 3 months of taxesLender$1,250
• Prepaid interestLender$607
• Appraisal feeAppraiser$550

Proof of funds adds $5,709 of reserves, 3 months of the $1,903 payment, that stay in your account. The gold broker line is the only money Capital Kings earns.

A sample sheet for a made-up borrower, built the same way yours is. Yours takes about five minutes and doesn’t pull your credit.

Compare the options

At 700 and up, the down payment and the closing costs barely move with credit. The rate does: 7.25% at the top against 7.88% at 700 to 719.

Cash to buy the same $250,000 rental, by credit

30-year fixed, single family, $2,200 a month of rent, 5-year step-down prepayment penalty, no origination fee. Taxes and insurance are estimated at 2% and 0.5% of the price until you have the real bills. Under 700 credit we price the file by hand. Rates as of October 2026.

Where the numbers come from

DSCR loans qualify on the rent, not your income. The lender divides the rent by the full monthly payment (principal, interest, taxes and insurance). Here that is $2,200 against $1,903: $1,382 of principal and interest, $417 of taxes and $104 of insurance, a 1.16 DSCR. It has to be 1.00 or better.

The closing costs are $2,295 of lender fees (there is no origination fee), our 1% broker fee of $2,000, $3,571 for title, $1,250 for the first year of insurance, $1,250 to set up the tax escrow, $607 of prepaid interest and $550 for the appraisal. That is $11,523.

Below 700 the down payment grows: 75% loan to value at 680 to 699 ($62,500 down on this house) and 65% at 660 to 679. We price those files by hand. The credit floor is 660.

Four things to check

• Budget reserves, not just cash to close.The lender checks $67,232 in the bank against $61,523 to close.
• Get the real tax bill.Taxes here are estimated at 2% of the price. A lower tax bill lowers the payment and helps the DSCR.
• Ask about the prepayment penalty.Most DSCR loans carry a 3 to 5 year penalty that steps down each year. A shorter one costs a little more in rate.
• Close in an LLC.DSCR loans are business-purpose loans, so the rental closes in an LLC.

Straight answers