Challenges with financing more than 6 rentals

[Peter Stur]

Last year I switched from the fix & flip method to buy & hold (specifically the BRRRR method thanks to the Bigger Pockets Podcast). I am now up to 5 rentals but most lenders are telling me that I will have issues trying to refinance once I get to 6 - apparently I need to have a lot more reserves in the bank, need to show a lot more income on my tax returns, need to show two years of rental income history, etc.

I see investors on this platform all the time talk about scaling their business quickly and having portfolios of 10, 20, 40+ rental properties. My goal is to get to that level but definitely running into some roadblocks.

I started with only a few thousand dollars in the bank and did most of the rehab work myself in order to get through my first few flips. I buy all my properties with hard money lending and then refi to 30 year mortgages after the rehab is complete. Thankful to have gotten this far without having lots of cash to play with, but now I’m struggling to get to that next level without having the cash reserves, high income, and long term rental history.

Any advise in regards to lenders/lending options with more than 6 rentals would be greatly appreciated.