Small-scale investors continue to cement their place in the US housing market. In 2025, an estimated 25% of home purchases will be from people who own 10 properties or fewer. Given how lucrative real estate investing is, it’s easy to see why it’s gaining popularity. However, long-term success involves strategic planning, and a key element to this is selecting the right lender.
At Defy Mortgage, we specialize in catering to the unique needs of real estate investors and individuals with unconventional income streams. We provide 75+ non-traditional mortgage options that can be tailored to fit every situation. Whether you’re a self-employed individual or business owner seeking to diversify your income stream with a short-term rental, or a full-time real estate investor looking to set your portfolio up for rapid growth, we can craft a solution that perfectly addresses your investment needs.
In this article, we’ll cover our top 10 picks for the best investment property lenders and break them down by certain criteria. Our list considered many factors to help determine who was considered, including reviews, the experience of employees, audiences, and loan types, product options, awards, overall brand message, and more.
Who are Investment Property Mortgages for?
Investment property mortgages are for anyone looking to turn real estate into a profitable enterprise through renting, flipping, holding, or other strategies. The best investment property lenders offer a wide variety of tailored loans for investment property purchases that can match any borrower’s strategy and goals.
Types of Investment Property Loans
Several types of loans for investment properties exist, each with its own unique traits and target investments. Here’s a brief overview of the main ones on offer at Defy:
- DSCR loans: Allow borrowers to use a property’s cash flow potential to qualify for a mortgage without requiring their tax returns or W-2s.
- Foreign national loans: Loan options for foreign nationals who do not have a US FICO score or Social Security number.
- Bank statement loans and P&L loans: Allow borrowers to prove their income through bank statements or profit-and-loss statements rather than traditional W-2 income or tax returns.
- Government-backed loans: FHA loans and VA loans can be used for investments with some restrictions.
- Conventional loans: Standard mortgages that are not backed by the government but are qualified mortgages (QMs) subject to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines, with stricter credit score and debt-to-income (DTI) requirements.
- Commercial property loans: Similar to conventional loans, but specifically designed for large-scale commercial properties like warehouses, hotels, office buildings, and shopping centers.
The Top 10 Best Investment Property Lenders of 2025
Defy Mortgage
Defy Mortgage is a non-bank lender with a clear and simple mission: to empower dreams, enrich lives, and elevate the mortgage experience for non-traditional borrowers. With our expansive list of flexible loan offerings, we cater to real estate investors of all types, from self-employed individuals such as small business owners and 1099 contract workers to entrepreneurs and full-time real estate investors.
Defy recognizes that not all borrowers are the same, so we offer greater flexibility when it comes to lending requirements and income verification with several product options, including but not limited to:
- DSCR loans: Allow qualification using rental income with as low as 0.75 DSCR and unlimited loan amounts at up to 85% loan-to-value (LTV), meaning your down payment can be as low as 15% of the home’s value.
- Bank statement loans: Use business or personal bank statements to qualify for a loan up to $6 million, with as little as 10% down for borrowers with FICO scores of 700 and up.
- Interest-only options: Reduce your loan obligation by allowing you to pay only interest for periods of either 5, 7, or 10 years, followed by 30- or 40-year amortization schedules. Our interest-only options go up to $10 million at up to 85% LTV.
- Foreign national options: For non-US citizens who do not have a US-based FICO score or Social Security number. At Defy, we offer foreign nationals loan amounts of up to $5 million at up to 75% LTV.
- P&L loans: Use your business profit-and-loss statements to qualify. Minimum FICO score of 600, with a maximum LTV of up to 90% and a maximum loan amount of $6 million for borrowers with higher credit scores.
- Jumbo loans: Designed for luxury properties that exceed the conforming loan limit, which is $806,500 for a single-family home in most states. Requires a credit score of 700+.
- Home equity loans and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs): Allow homeowners to tap into their home’s equity for investment purposes. Our home equity loans and HELOCs allow between 70-80% LTV, meaning you can withdraw up to 80% of your home’s value.
Aside from our wide array of products on offer, we distinguish ourselves with our dedication to personalized mortgage experiences over detached and inflexible automated ones. Our experts are fully involved with each case from end to end, allowing them to apply their extensive industry knowledge to bring our clients fast pre-approvals, faster closings, and the simplest, easiest mortgage experience on the market.
The laser focus we give to each scenario enables us to come up with creative solutions to even the most complex mortgage situations. Whether you’re working with self-employment income or juggling multiple properties, we can structure a deal that will make your goals a reality.
Since 2022, Defy has been empowering dreams and enriching lives by providing alternative mortgage solutions. Today, Defy sports an almost perfect rating on Google reviews, and we have no plans of slowing down.
Being self-employed shouldn’t and doesn’t make you less qualified for a mortgage. When others say no, Defy says yes.
Rocket Mortgage
Rocket Mortgage offers investment property loans with down payments as low as 3% for the conventional options across all 50 US states. However, they have loan minimums depending on the property type, and their jumbo loan options have a maximum amount of $2.5 million.
Wells Fargo
An established bank with a $681.8 billion commercial loan portfolio, Wells Fargo offers commercial real estate loan services for individual borrowers, institutional investors, financial institutions, internally recognized investment banks, and other third-party investment groups. Their commercial financing serves primarily a mix of large corporations, mid-sized companies, governments, and some not-for-profit companies.
Pennymac
A major direct mortgage lender, Pennymac offers various investment property loan options, but they specialize in VA home loans, servicing over 369,000 active VA loans at present.
New American Funding
California-based New American Funding is a private direct mortgage lender that emphasizes tech-led mortgage service and inclusive initiatives for underserved communities. Among their major investment property loan options is their one-time close construction loan, which combines a traditional construction loan and a mortgage into one loan–essentially a construction-to-permanent loan.
Kiavi
Kiavi specializes in bridge loans, construction loans, and various types of rental loans for investors, including DSCR loans, often with no appraisal required. With a good variety of options for DSCR loans, they claimed the #6 spot on our list of top DSCR lenders of 2025. They also offer refinance options such as seasoned and delayed purchase refinance.
United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM)
Based in Michigan, United Wholesale Mortgage offers a wide range of wholesale mortgage programs, but their investment property loans are limited to bank statement and DSCR options. Each of those two categories is further subdivided into four loan tiers, which each tier having its own terms and requirements. The lowest tier allows financing from as little as $50,000, with the highest going up to $2 million.
Fairway Independent Mortgage
Fairway Independent Mortgage is a full-service mortgage lender licensed to cater to borrowers across all 50 states. Fairway emphasizes in-person service, with a brick-and-mortar in most parts of the US, as well as flexible eligibility requirements, but clients have noted that they tend to have higher fees than many other companies, and they are not very transparent with their rates or fees on their website. They also do not offer a number of products that non-QM borrowers have come to expect, such as home equity lines of credit (HELOCs).
loanDepot
loanDepot is among the top 10 largest retail non-bank lenders in the country, and is widely praised for its fast closing rate and large selection of mortgage loan options. However, they have also been criticized for not being transparent about their rates. There have also been reports of poor communication based on the opinions of some online reviewers, such as those on creditkarma.
Chase Bank
For investors seeking to buy high-value properties, Chase Bank offers one of the highest jumbo loan maximums on the market at $9.5 million, with interest-only options as well. They also provide a $5,000 closing guarantee for eligible borrowers, helping decrease your closing costs. However, the availability of their in-person support varies depending on the state. They also do not disclose their minimum financial profile requirements, making it difficult to predict your final rate and loan terms unless you go through the underwriting process with them.
How to Choose the Best Investment Property Lender
An experienced, flexible, and aligned with your financial goals investment property lender can be instrumental to the long-term success of your investment. The right lender not only offers better rates but also guides you through complex underwriting requirements and helps you close faster in competitive markets.
Here’s how you can find the right lender:
1. Determine your needs
The first step to selecting the right lender among the dozens of investment mortgage lenders available is to determine what exactly your needs are. This lets you evaluate each lender based on how well they can serve this need. Consider your preferred investment strategy, your financial profile, and desired loan terms such as rate and down payment.
Fix-and-flip strategies, for instance, can only be facilitated by lenders who offer short-term financing such as hard money loans or specialized fix-and-flip loans. If your focus is on minimizing your debt obligation, you may need to find a lender that offers FHA loans or VA loans. We provide all of these and more at Defy.
2. Review lender qualification requirements
Once you have identified which lenders have the ability to cater to your needs, you should then review their qualification requirements to ensure a good match. A lender may expect a higher credit score for your desired loan type, for example, or have a lower LTV, which would require you to make a larger down payment. Each lender also has their own expectations regarding debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, cash reserves, and other financial qualifications.
3. Compare loan costs and terms
Narrow down your list of candidates further by ranking them in terms of feasibility, using their loan costs and terms as your basis. Look at interest rates, APRs, loan durations, and fees like origination and closing costs. Even small rate differences can add up over time, so weigh each offer’s total cost, not just the monthly payment.
4. Look into each lender’s strong suit
Some lenders are better at some things than others. The best lender will be the one that fully understands your needs and how to craft the perfect solutions to fit your exact situation. Depending on the type of investment real estate loan you have your eye on, it can be worth going with a lender that is deeply familiar with your preferred loan option over a lender that offers marginally better rates and terms.
The more niche your chosen option, the more incentivized you are to seek out a lender that specializes in it. At Defy, we lean heavily towards DSCR loans and other non-QM loans such as bank statement loans, P&L loans, and foreign national loans. Our mortgage team has a collective 100 years of experience in assisting investors in navigating complex borrowing situations, allowing us to give you the detailed support you need to get the most out of your mortgage.
Best Investment Property Lenders FAQ
What is the average interest rate for an investment property?
Average interest rates for investment property loans tend to vary depending on the mortgage option you choose, but as a general rule, 30-year investment property loan rates can be 0.5% to 0.75% higher than 30-year primary residential mortgage rates. FHA and VA loans tend to have better rates than conventional investment mortgages, but you will have to adjust your strategy around their restrictions. Non-QM loans, on the other hand, can have higher rates than conventional, but this can be mitigated by reporting a large average income with bank or P&L statements, or selecting a property with a high income potential in the case of DSCR loans.
Where is the best place to get an investment property loan?
Between bank and non-bank lenders, you have a wealth of options. The choice should ultimately depend on your credit profile, your resources, the type of property, your timeline, and your investment strategy. Each lender focus on specific loan types and borrowers, so make sure the lenders you shortlist are compatible with your profile and goals.
With Defy, you get access to flexible investment property financing specifically designed for investors. You also get the dedicated end-to-end support of a team of seasoned mortgage experts leveraging years of experience in various real estate markets to ensure that you get maximum value from your investment. We also offer interest-only periods of up to 10 years for loans up to $10 million, no W-2s or tax returns required, and options for foreign nationals who don’t have a US SSN or FICO score.
Are investment property loans hard to get?
The difficulty of getting an investment property loan depends on what type of loan you are looking to apply for, as well as which lender you choose. Conventional investment property loans have stricter credit score and debt-to-income (DTI) standards. If you have less-than-perfect credit, DSCR loans let you qualify with a FICO score of as low as 620 as long as your property makes 1.25 times as much as it has to pay in debt payments each year (At Defy, you can qualify with just 0.75 DSCR, with up to 85% LTV and no maximum loan amount, with options for foreign nationals as well).
How to find a profitable investment property you can afford?
First, figure out how much you can afford by evaluating your finances–double-check and consider improving your credit score and utilization, as well as your available capital. Keeping abreast of interest rates, housing policies, the property’s condition, and economic indicators will inform you about the likely cost of purchasing the property. Next, research your target markets to find areas that have the strongest rental demand and appreciation to maximize profitability, with particular emphasis on up-and-coming neighborhoods to maximize affordability.
How to get approved for a loan to buy an investment property?
To maximize your chances of getting approved for an investment property loan, you can strengthen your financial profile by checking your credit reports for discrepancies, improving your credit score and debt-to-income ratio, and increasing your cash reserves to raise lender confidence. Maintaining organized documentation on your financials and the property you want to purchase also helps speed the underwriting process along. A larger down payment can also increase your chances and potentially lower your rates.
How to choose the best investment property loans?
The best investment property loan choice will depend on your investment goals and resources. House flipping strategies can be facilitated by dedicated fix-and-flip loans or even by withdrawing home equity using a home equity loan or HELOC to fund renovations. If your focus is long-term rentals, however, a DSCR loan can help you take full advantage of your property’s cash flow by using it to secure financing and better loan terms.
Key Takeaways
Choosing the best investment property lender is one of the most critical decisions real estate investors can make. Not all lenders are created equal—each one has its own set of products, eligibility requirements, and areas of expertise. Understanding your own investment strategy—whether that’s flipping properties, holding rentals, or expanding a diverse portfolio—is essential to narrowing your lender options down to those that are truly a good fit.
Start by identifying what you need most from your lender. That could mean flexible underwriting for self-employed income, fast closings in competitive markets, or access to specialized products like DSCR or HELOCs. From there, look closely at lender requirements like credit score, debt-to-income ratio, and minimum down payments, as well as the total cost of the loan over time. Small differences in interest rates and fees can significantly affect your long-term returns.
Each lender brings different strengths to the table. In Defy’s case, it’s easy qualification, personalized support, and highly customizable non-traditional loan options. If you’re ready to take the next step with us, you can schedule an appointment on our site, email us at team@defymortgage.com, or give us a call at (615) 622-1032.
