How many loans can one practically take?

[Eli M.]

Dear BP community,

I was wondering, is there a formula how one could calculate how many loans banks can practically give him?

Does it matter if I buy the properties on LLC? Does it matter if my wife is also on the llc? I mean realistically speaking, banks can't constantly give you loans, at some point they will say, you have too many loans.

Thank you all in advance,

eli K

[Jim D.]

For conventional loans, which generally have the most attractive terms, the first four are the easiest to get. Loans 5-9 require at least 20-25% down payment. After loan 10, I believe you max out your conventional loans and have to look somewhere else like portfolio loans or commercial, of which there is no limit as long as you are qualified in the bank's eyes.

Note that if you are married, you can gain a large advantage by only putting the houses and loans in one spouse's name. My properties are either in my name or my wife's only, so we can qualify for 10 conventional loans each (assuming our DTI etc. works out).