Limit on number of mortgages

[Jason Kosowan]

Hi everyone

I've been doing some investments over the past couple of years, but I'm still definitely learning about RE and landlording.

In addition to my current residence, I've got 3 properties, which are all leveraged, so that's a total of 4 mortgages. But when preparing for the next purchase, my lender told me that they would not give me another mortgage because 4 is the limit.

The amount of actual leverage in investment properties is actually small (about 300k), which I told the bank, but they don't care. "4 is the limit", they said.

Is this just my lender or is it a hard rule across the board?

The lending officer told me about VA Vendi properties, but the selection seemed really poor, when I looked at them, and there were only a handful in California and they were in really odd places.

They also told me that if I moved into another primary residence, and started renting out my current house, then I'd be able to qualify for another mortgage. But, what if I don't want to move?

Is there a way to get around this? Maybe I have to start a business and put the loans under that?

Thanks everyone!