DTI & The "2 Year Landlord Experience" Rule?

[Mitch Rice]

I'm a new investor and am just now building up my portfolio. I converted my first primary residence into a rental back in October of 2014 so I have only been renting it out for 6 months.

I'm purchasing another in a few weeks and when looking for a 3rd, I've started to run up against DTI issues. I've heard from the lender and from others on BP that I need to rent for two years until a lender will count rental income.

Can someone help me understand this rule better? I couldn't find much on BP or the internet. Specifically:

• Once I have two years of landlord experience, will a lender count income from all my properties or does it take two years for each property to count?
• I'm considering selling the original property because it doesn't cashflow well, but if I do so will that reset the 2 year "timer" or will it keep going as long as I have another rental?

Thanks everyone. I'm learning a lot from BP so far and appreciate everyone's time.

[Jeff Brower]

Ill second what Shaun said, though it really depends on the lending institution. A credit union that I recently started using needs only two years of landlord experience, not two years for each property. After two years of landlord experience documented on your 1040 if you want to use additional properties that you own towards lowering your DTI you have to present a signed lease *AND* a cancelled check from the renters to show proof. With those they will use 75% of the projected rent towards your income.