@Becca Tew there's a few blanks in your description here but I think I have most of the general ideas. If you are buying a rental property a bank may have an "overlay" - an extra rule that they add to be more conservative - for your loan type. A conventional loan can use rental income on a property. Even if you don't have history of rental income on your tax returns. That rule is for a purchase. If you buy this home with hard money and want to refinance out of the hard money then you will need an executed lease to refinance into a conventional loan. The renter doesn't have to move in yet, just have an executed lease (meaning it needs to be signed and the security deposit is made into your account). You will still need income, credit, and assets for a conventional loan though (and by income I mean a 2 year history of the field you are in). So if that doesn't apply you should seek portfolio lending. I have several portfolio loans that ignore income entirely. One type just goes off the cash flow of the property. So portfolio loans are out there. If you need more information just private message me but seek out a lender that knows investment property transactions, has portfolio loans, or conventional loans with no overlays...or at least the overlays that wouldn't disqualify you from rental income. Hope this helps.