Questions about Conventional Loans

[Jack Smith]

Hi all,

I just finished reading Brandon's book on rental property investing (Awesome book btw).

I'm pretty new to this whole real estate investing thing and was wondering if anyone would be able to help answer a few questions about conventional loans.

1) I heard it's difficult for most lenders to consider giving you more than 4 conventional loans, is it true?

2) I recall there being a 4 or 10 house limit for conventional loans, is it worth it to use up this limit on cheap rental houses (30k - 70k) or save them for more serious buys (200k-500k)? 

3) This might be an opinion question but have anyone ever reached their 10 house conventional loan limit buying cheap properties then regretted not saving them for bigger purchases?

4) Is this 4 or 10 house limit thing a lifetime limit? If I buy 10 houses using conventional loans and want an 11th, can I swap one of my conventional loans for a porfolio loan thingy to free up a spot?

5) This portfolio loan thing, how much harder is it to obtain compared to a conventional loan and how much higher is the interest rate generally?

In general I have a bit of a anxiety paralysis situation where I'm about to buy a cheap house and I wonder if I'm wasting my 4 or 10 house conventional limit and should instead save it for bigger deals. Mostly I'm interested in whether these are lifetime limits.

All thoughts are greatly appreciated!

[Mario Navarrete]

Hi @Jack Smith

Welcome to rental property investing! As for your questions...

Conventional lenders do have the limits you've heard of and that is why more and more rental investors are looking to commercial lenders who are not so rigid. The question here is, are you more of a fix and flip investor or buy and hold? Additionally, most rental property investors today do not know all the products that are available to them..which makes a huge difference between your novice and seasoned investor. I would encourage you to find a portfolio lender who also has an aggregation or acquisition credit line available. This one/two combo should serve your needs whether you become a fix & flip investor, a buy and hold investor or better yet, both!

Hope this helps!!