Multi-Family & Small Commercial
2–8 unit residential and small commercial deals structured to cash flow.
What This Is
Multi-family investors buy 2–4 unit residential (duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes) and 5–8 unit small commercial (small apartment buildings). The financing splits at the 5-unit line: 2–4 units still qualify as residential mortgages (including DSCR), while 5+ units become commercial with different underwriting, higher down payments, and different lenders.
Both sides live in my network.
How It Helps You
- 2–4 unit DSCR programs treat the entire building’s rent roll as qualifying income
- House-hack financing available if owner-occupying one unit (FHA/conventional low down)
- 5–8 unit small commercial DSCR available (rare — most brokers refer these out)
- Portfolio programs to acquire multiple small multifamily under one loan
- Cash-out refi on stabilized multi-family for capital deployment
- Bridge for value-add plays (buy underperforming, rehab, stabilize, refi)
Multi-family investors buy 2–4 unit residential (duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes) and 5–8 unit small commercial (small apartment buildings). The financing splits at the 5-unit line: 2–4 units still qualify as residential mortgages (including DSCR), while 5+ units become commercial with different underwriting, higher down payments, and different lenders.
Both sides live in my network.
- 2–4 unit DSCR programs treat the entire building’s rent roll as qualifying income
- House-hack financing available if owner-occupying one unit (FHA/conventional low down)
- 5–8 unit small commercial DSCR available (rare — most brokers refer these out)
- Portfolio programs to acquire multiple small multifamily under one loan
- Cash-out refi on stabilized multi-family for capital deployment
- Bridge for value-add plays (buy underperforming, rehab, stabilize, refi)
The Deal: 4-unit residential building. Purchase $520,000. Total gross rent $5,200/month ($1,300 × 4).
- Loan amount: $390,000 (75% LTV)
- Down payment: $130,000 (25%)
- 30-year fixed DSCR, illustrative rate 7.95%
- Principal + interest: $2,846/month
- Taxes/insurance: $780/month
- Total PITI: $3,626/month
- DSCR: 5,200 ÷ 3,626 = 1.43 (strong approval)
Monthly cash flow: $1,574 pre-vacancy, pre-maintenance. Held in LLC. Closes in 28 days.
Multi-family cash flows better per dollar deployed than single family in most markets. A $520K 4-unit outperforms a $520K single-family rental almost every time because you’re diversifying vacancy risk across 4 tenants instead of one.
But 2–4 unit deals need lenders who understand DSCR at that unit count, and 5–8 unit deals need brokers who play in small commercial. Both are underserved by most retail LOs.
Illustrative — varies by unit count:
- Rate: 0.25–0.75% above single-family DSCR
- LTV: up to 75% purchase, 70% cash-out
- Reserves: 6 months PITI
- Credit: 660–680
- Close: 25–35 days
- Rate: 8–9%+ typical
- LTV: 65–75% purchase
- Reserves: 6–12 months PITI
- Credit: 680–720
- Timeline: 45–60 days
- Full commercial appraisal required
Different situations call for different lender strengths. Through my network, I can access programs that specialize in:
- 2–4 unit DSCR with as low as 20% down for experienced investors
- 5–8 unit small commercial DSCR (many brokers can’t offer this)
- Portfolio loans for 3+ small multifamily under one approval
- Value-add bridge for reposition plays
- House-hack financing (owner-occupied 2–4 unit with 3.5–5% down)
- Non-warrantable condo multifamily
- Mixed-use financing (residential + ground-floor commercial)
Documents I’ll need:
- Property address + purchase price
- Current rent roll (or projected rents for vacant units)
- Estimated taxes, insurance, HOA
- Photo ID
- Two months bank statements
- Experience summary if owning other rentals
- LLC docs if closing in entity
Ready to Structure Your Deal?
Tell me the deal. I’ll route it to the right program.