DSCR Calculator
Calculate the debt-service coverage ratio for any rental property, find the minimum rent needed to hit 1.0 and 1.25 DSCR thresholds, and model how your down payment affects qualification.
Get Started in 3 Steps
How to Use the DSCR Calculator
Enter the Property & Loan Details
Input purchase price (up to $10M in $25K increments), down payment, and interest rate, then choose the 30-year fixed or the 40-year fixed to set the monthly mortgage payment. The 40-year is interest-only for years 1–10, then amortizes over 30 years.
Add Rental Income & Expenses
Enter monthly rent, taxes, insurance, and any HOA dues. The calculator computes your DSCR (rent ÷ PITIA), plus an optional NOI view after vacancy and operating costs.
Model to Hit Your Target DSCR
Adjust rent assumptions or down payment until your DSCR reaches 1.0 to qualify, or 1.25 for the best pricing.
DSCR Calculator
Debt Service Coverage Ratio Estimator
Loan Details
Edit to reverse-calculate down payment %
Loan Term
Monthly Income & Expenses
Market rent/mo
Monthly
Hazard ins.
$0 if none
Your property generates strong income well above the debt obligation. Expect the best available rates and terms.
Monthly Cash Flow
+$821
Annual
+$9,858
| Year | Principal | Interest | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4,499 | $22,844 | $370,501 |
| 2 | $4,782 | $22,560 | $365,719 |
| 3 | $5,083 | $22,259 | $360,636 |
| 4 | $5,404 | $21,939 | $355,233 |
| 5 | $5,744 | $21,599 | $349,489 |
| 6 | $6,106 | $21,237 | $343,383 |
| 7 | $6,490 | $20,852 | $336,892 |
| 8 | $6,899 | $20,443 | $329,993 |
| 9 | $7,334 | $20,008 | $322,659 |
| 10 | $7,796 | $19,546 | $314,863 |
| 11 | $8,287 | $19,055 | $306,576 |
| 12 | $8,809 | $18,533 | $297,766 |
| 13 | $9,364 | $17,978 | $288,402 |
| 14 | $9,954 | $17,388 | $278,448 |
| 15 | $10,581 | $16,761 | $267,867 |
| 16 | $11,248 | $16,095 | $256,619 |
| 17 | $11,957 | $15,386 | $244,662 |
| 18 | $12,710 | $14,633 | $231,952 |
| 19 | $13,510 | $13,832 | $218,442 |
| 20 | $14,362 | $12,981 | $204,080 |
| 21 | $15,266 | $12,076 | $188,814 |
| 22 | $16,228 | $11,114 | $172,586 |
| 23 | $17,251 | $10,092 | $155,335 |
| 24 | $18,337 | $9,005 | $136,998 |
| 25 | $19,493 | $7,850 | $117,505 |
| 26 | $20,721 | $6,622 | $96,785 |
| 27 | $22,026 | $5,317 | $74,759 |
| 28 | $23,414 | $3,929 | $51,345 |
| 29 | $24,889 | $2,454 | $26,457 |
| 30 | $26,457 | $886 | Paid off |
| Total | $375,000 | $445,274 | paid off |
For illustrative purposes only — not a loan commitment. Contact a Lumen Mortgage specialist for a formal analysis. NMLS #1498678.
What is a good DSCR ratio for an investment property?
For a 1–4 unit rental, 1.0 is the usual minimum: the rent equals the full monthly payment (PITIA). A ratio of 1.25 or higher gets the best pricing. Lumen's programs go down to 0.75 for borrowers with 700+ credit and 6 months of reserves. Commercial loans are different: they're qualified on net operating income and usually need 1.20–1.25.
Best for: Real estate investors, landlords qualifying on property cash flow rather than personal income
How It Works
Understanding the DSCR Calculator
DSCR loans qualify borrowers based on the investment property's rental income rather than personal W-2 or tax return income. This makes them ideal for self-employed investors, borrowers with complex tax situations, or anyone scaling a rental portfolio.
Worked example: You're purchasing a duplex for $650,000 with 25% down ($487,500 loan) at 7.50% for 30 years. Monthly P&I is $3,409. Add $650 for property taxes and $175 for insurance, and PITIA is $4,234. Both units rent for $2,200/month ($4,400 total), so DSCR = $4,400 ÷ $4,234 = 1.04, which meets the 1.0 standard. With 20% down, PITIA rises to $4,461 and the DSCR falls to 0.99, which needs the below-1.0 program (700+ credit and 6 months of reserves). To reach 1.25 for the best pricing at 25% down, combined rent would need to be about $5,290/month.
The optional NOI view subtracts vacancy and operating costs to show the property's real cash flow. Use it to judge the investment; lenders qualify 1–4 unit DSCR loans on gross rent ÷ PITIA.
The calculator models any purchase price up to $10 million in $25,000 increments, letting you adjust rent, expenses, and down payment until your DSCR reaches the tier you're aiming for.
Ready to apply?
Numbers look right? Explore our DSCR Loans page for eligibility details, rates, and next steps.
About This Calculator
What the DSCR Calculator is For
DSCR loans qualify based on the property's rental income — not your personal tax returns. The ratio is simple: monthly rent divided by monthly PITIA. A DSCR of 1.0 means rent exactly covers the payment; most lenders want 1.20–1.25 to approve. This calculator tells you your ratio in seconds, then lets you model the deal in multiple configurations — a larger down payment to lower the payment, different rent assumptions for short-term vs. long-term use, or a tighter rate environment — so you know whether the deal qualifies before you go under contract.
Common Use Cases
- Checking DSCR before making an offer on a rental property
- Finding the minimum rent needed to hit a 1.25 coverage ratio
- Modeling how down payment size affects DSCR and approval likelihood
Ready to turn numbers into a loan?
Or call 503-966-9255Common Questions
DSCR Calculator — Frequently Asked Questions
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From the Blog
Further Reading
InvestmentTurned Down for a Jumbo Loan Because of the Acreage — How We Rescued a Multimillion-Dollar Investment Property Refinance and Funded the Next Purchase
Another lender denied a real-estate investor's jumbo refinance because the property had too much acreage. We cleared the acreage up front — before ordering the appraisal — qualified the loan on the property's rent alone (no tax returns, no employment verification), paid off her existing loan, returned roughly half a million dollars in cash-out proceeds, and structured it as a 40-year fixed with the first 10 years interest-only so she could go buy her next property. Here's how, and why our jumbo lineup fits investors and high-net-worth borrowers other lenders can't.
InvestmentMaximizing DSCR and Cash Flow with Interest-Only Payments: A 2026 Six-City Comparison (Portland, Eugene, Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County)
Interest-only payments on a 40-year DSCR loan can lift your debt-service coverage ratio by roughly 0.13–0.15 and add hundreds of dollars per month in cash flow — sometimes flipping a deal from negative to positive. Here is what the math looks like at 2026 median price points across six West Coast investor markets, modeled at 30% down (70% LTV) which is the sweet spot for best-tier DSCR pricing.
InvestmentDSCR Loans for LLCs in Oregon: Why Entity Vesting Wins — and Why You Should Avoid Vesting Changes Before a Conventional Refinance
Oregon investors increasingly want to hold rentals inside an LLC for liability and estate planning. DSCR loans allow that natively; conventional loans punish vesting changes. Here's the practical playbook for choosing the right vesting at acquisition — and avoiding the trap of moving title into an LLC mid-loan.
All calculator results are estimates for informational purposes only and do not constitute a loan commitment or guarantee of any specific rate or terms. Actual loan terms will depend on creditworthiness, property type, and market conditions. Lumen Mortgage Corporation · NMLS #1498678 · Licensed in Oregon & California · 920 SW 6th Ave, Suite 1200, Portland, OR 97204.