Financing multiple properties to buy and hold

[Account Closed]

I talked to my friend the other day and he told me his landlord owns 230 properties. I understand if your a millionaire it would be quite easy to attain such an amount as that. But if you weren't a millionaire, is it possible to finance that many properties to buy and hold? If so, do investors finance all of them one at a time or all at the same time. I cant imagine having 230 mortages.

[Jon Holdman]

The 10 loan limit comes from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rules. Most mortgage on small residential properties are written based on those rules so the lender can sell the mortgage on the secondary market. These lenders are in the business of originating loans, not holding them. This is the majority of residential lenders.

Some lender write portfolio loans. That is, they create loans they will keep in their own investment portfolio. They can write loans based on their own guidelines, as long as they live within FDIC or any other regulatory restriction. There are some lenders who do this - banks, credit unions, insurance companies. Essentially anyone who has a lot of money to invest in something is a potential source.