Current DSCR HELOC guidelines, updated from one source.
Every figure in this block comes from one guideline source and updates here when the program changes. These are the second-lien terms; a first-lien line on a paid-off rental follows its own tiers, summarized under the ladder, and the rent test applies to both.
Of the rental’s value, first mortgage included
Behind a first mortgage the strongest tier reaches 70% of value across all liens combined; a first-lien line on a rental with no mortgage reaches 75% at the top tier and runs to $1,000,000 at the reduced ceiling on the largest lines.
Credit score for a second-lien line
A second-lien line starts at a 720 credit profile; a first-lien line on a paid-off rental opens at 700. The tiers above the floor open more leverage, and the largest first-lien lines carry a reduced ceiling of their own.
Automated valuation on lines to $400,000
Lines run from $50,000 to $500,000 on a second lien and to $1,000,000 on a first lien; an automated valuation with an inspection covers lines to $400,000 in either position, and every larger line takes a full interior appraisal.
Interest-only, then 25 years of repayment
A 5-year interest-only draw period and a 25-year repayment period make up the 30-year line. The rent must cover the qualifying payment at 1.10 or better, measured on the whole line at a stressed rate.
| Credit profile | Max combined LTV | Max line | Lien position · valuation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 740+ | 70% | $500,000 | Second lien behind the first mortgage · Automated valuation + inspection to $400,000, full interior appraisal above |
| 720+ | 70% | $500,000 | Second lien behind the first mortgage · Automated valuation + inspection to $400,000, full interior appraisal above |
| 740+ | 75% | $500,000 | First lien on a paid-off rental · Automated valuation + inspection to $400,000, full interior appraisal above |
| 720+ | 70% | $500,000 | First lien on a paid-off rental · Automated valuation + inspection to $400,000, full interior appraisal above |
| 720+ | 65% | $750,000 | First lien on a paid-off rental · Automated valuation + inspection to $400,000, full interior appraisal above |
| 720+ | 65% | $1,000,000 | First lien on a paid-off rental · Automated valuation + inspection to $400,000, full interior appraisal above |
| 700+ | 70% | $500,000 | First lien on a paid-off rental · Automated valuation + inspection to $400,000, full interior appraisal above |
The 70% combined loan-to-value ceiling behind a first mortgage requires a 720 credit profile. A first-lien line on a paid-off rental starts at a 700 profile, reaches 75% loan-to-value at the top tier, and runs to $1,000,000 at 65% on lines above $500,000. The rent must cover the qualifying payment at 1.10 or better.
Current DSCR HELOC snapshot · updated October 29, 2026 · seven tier rows across both lien positions · variable rate through the draw and repayment periods · at least 80% of the line (and $50,000) drawn at closing · later draws from $5,000 · first or second lien position · vesting in the owner’s LLC allowed · no reserves required · 6 months of ownership before the line.
For informational purposes only. Each DSCR HELOC parameter here is a wholesale program guideline rather than an offer; it can change without notice, and the selected lender underwrites the property, the rent, the credit profile, the vesting, and the title before any line is approved. The calculator is illustrative and names neither a rate nor a payment. Lendmire, LLC, NMLS #2371349, is a mortgage broker, licensed for consumer mortgages in sixteen states; the lender’s program sheet writes this line in fifteen of the sixteen, and a licensed loan officer provides the terms in writing. Equal Housing Opportunity.
What a DSCR HELOC is — and how the rent sizes the line.
The mechanics are the same on every South Haven file: the lender measures the rental’s value, subtracts the balance already secured by it, applies the ceiling for the credit tier and lien position, caps the result at the program maximum, and checks that the rent covers the qualifying payment. Four cards below walk through the parts.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s DSCR HELOC program, or the statewide guide at DSCR HELOC in Michigan.
A line on the rental, behind the mortgage you keep
Unlike a closed-end loan, the line stays open through the draw period: fund a South Haven rehab this year and a down payment next year, pay interest only on the drawn balance, and repay over the years after the draw period ends. The first mortgage, and its rate, never move.
The rent qualifies the line, not your tax returns
Because the payment used in the test is a fully amortizing payment on the entire credit limit at a stressed rate, a South Haven rental with thin cash flow qualifies for a smaller line than its equity would allow. Equity sets the ceiling; rent sets what the ceiling can actually fund.
Your credit tier sets the ceiling and the cap
The score the lender pulls decides the tier, and the tier decides the ceiling and the cap. On a second-lien line the top tiers share one ceiling and one cap; on a first-lien line the largest lines carry a reduced ceiling. Nothing in the file moves the tier except the report itself.
Valuation, the lease, the LLC, and closing
Seasoning matters on a rental: a property bought or refinanced inside the program’s seasoning window waits, and ownership must season before the line closes. A South Haven rental listed for sale in the months before the application is not eligible, and a declining-market flag on the valuation trims the ceiling.
Every input is yours to change in the calculator below: the South Haven rental’s value, the balance already secured by it, the credit tier, and the lien position. The ceiling and the cap come from the program tables for that tier and position, and the result is the room under the ceiling, capped at the program maximum.
South Haven’s rental equity in figures — and how a line fits it.
Every South Haven file is its own equity story, but the market frames it: the median value, the share of households that own, and the age of the housing stock. These Census figures are context for a line, never the terms of one.
Citywide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. Read the median against the balance on your own rental. Where values have run ahead of the mortgages on them, the room under the ceiling is wide and the rent test is the tighter of the two gates; where purchases are recent, the room is narrow and the ceiling is the tighter gate.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Distinct South Haven rental neighborhoods, distinct equity pictures.
Neighborhood by neighborhood, South Haven’s rentals present different files: some with deep equity and modest rents, some with high rents and thin equity, some with valuation questions of their own. The cards below walk through them.
Long-term rentals in a resort market
The program reads a lease, so the resort-market rental that fits is the one leased long-term: a year-round tenant, a lease in place, and a rent the appraiser’s schedule supports. A South Haven property run as a vacation rental is a different file. Median household income in South Haven sits near $68,239 on the latest Census estimate.
Year-round primary residences
The program’s occupancy is non-owner-occupied, full stop. A South Haven primary residence takes the consumer HELOC on the owner’s income or deposits; a leased rental, held personally or in an LLC, takes this one. On a one-unit rental at South Haven’s median home value, the second-lien ceiling puts total liens near $317,870 — the line is what remains after the first mortgage balance, and the rent must cover the qualifying payment; a paid-off rental on a first-lien line sits above the second-lien ceiling.
Rental condominiums and condotels
Resort condominiums split on the project: a warrantable or non-warrantable residential project is eligible at its ceiling with a long-term lease, and a condotel is not eligible at all. South Haven’s condominium rentals are read on the project first. South Haven is home to about 4.0K people.
Waterfront and view rentals
View and waterfront rentals in South Haven are high-value files: the maximum line binds before the ceiling, the larger lines take a full interior appraisal, and flood coverage is confirmed where the property sits in a flood zone. Roughly 1,448 South Haven households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 71% of all households, the pool a rental equity line is written for.
Vacation and short-term rentals
Short-term rental income is not the rent the coverage test reads. A South Haven owner whose property books by the night does not have a lease to document, and the line is written on leased rentals; the scenario review is where that is settled. The median owner-occupied home value in South Haven runs near $454,100 on the latest Census estimate.
Entity-held resort rentals
Resort rentals in South Haven are often held in LLCs, and the program writes the line in the entity’s name when the property is a leased rental: the members sign as guarantors, the deed stays, and the lease carries the rent test. About 29% of South Haven’s households rent — roughly 599 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Treat the submarket notes as a map of where equity and rent tend to sit across South Haven, not as eligibility. The program’s property list, ceilings, and rent test are the same citywide; the inputs differ property by property.
Four ways South Haven landlords put a rental equity line to work.
The uses are the landlord’s, not the lender’s: the program does not restrict what a South Haven owner draws for. These four are the common ones, and each shows why a revolving line behind the first mortgage fits better than a lump sum that replaces it.
Finish a value-add before the permanent loan
The rehab-then-refinance cycle runs on capital between the purchase and the permanent loan. A DSCR HELOC on an existing South Haven rental supplies that capital from equity already earned, qualified on that rental’s rent.
A standing reserve for the portfolio
Some South Haven investors open a line for what has not happened yet: the furnace that fails in January, the vacancy that runs long, the assessment the association votes through. The closing draw is set by the program; the rest waits.
Bridge a sale, a tax bill, or a buyout
Timing problems are capital problems. A DSCR HELOC on a seasoned South Haven rental turns a timing problem into a draw and a repayment, without a refinance and without the owner’s personal income in the file.
Consolidate business debt at the property level
Consolidation on a rental line keeps the debt where the asset is: secured by the property that produced the need, repaid over the repayment period, with the owner’s personal income never part of the file.
Estimate your South Haven rental’s available credit line before requesting a quote.
Use the calculator to see what the South Haven rental’s equity supports before you request a quote. Every input is editable, the tables update from Lendmire’s guideline source on the live page, and nothing here states a rate or a payment: the line is sized here and priced in writing by a licensed loan officer.
South Haven rental available-equity calculator
An equity sizer for a South Haven rental: the room under the ceiling for your tier and position, capped at the program maximum. No rate, no payment.
Illustrative starting assumptions: a $455,000 rental value near South Haven’s median owner-occupied home value and a $205,000 modeled remaining first-mortgage balance (U.S. Census Bureau). Combined loan-to-value ceilings and line caps follow the current program tables for the lien position and credit tier selected and update from Lendmire’s centralized guideline source on the live page. The rent test is the lender’s: the gross rent must cover the qualifying payment on the whole line at the program’s coverage minimum. Every field is editable.
Illustrative estimate only — not a credit decision, approval, quote, or commitment to lend. The actual line amount, combined loan-to-value, and eligibility depend on the automated valuation or appraisal, the lease and the rent, the credit profile, the vesting, documentation, and full underwriting by the selected wholesale lender; the rate, the payment, and any costs are provided in writing by a licensed loan officer. Minimum score, line-size, coverage, and draw requirements follow the current program snapshot shown on this page. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages.
Same rental equity, four very different ways to reach it.
The same South Haven rental can reach its equity four ways, and they differ in what qualifies the borrower and what happens to the first mortgage. A DSCR HELOC qualifies on the rent and leaves the first mortgage alone; the other three read the owner’s income, the owner’s deposits, or replace the mortgage outright.
A rent-qualified line, an income-qualified line, a cash-out refinance, or a bank statement line.
For the South Haven investor whose returns understate the business, whose rentals sit in an LLC, or who simply wants the property to qualify itself. The first mortgage and its rate are untouched; the line is sized by equity and carried by the rent. Fewer documents, a tighter ceiling.
For the South Haven landlord with clean tax returns, room in the debt ratio, and a rental titled in their own name. The income-qualified line is the higher-leverage route; the DSCR HELOC is the route when the returns, the ratio, or the LLC make that file impossible. For the income-qualified route, see Lendmire’s investment property HELOC.
For the South Haven owner whose first-mortgage rate is no longer worth keeping, or who needs more of the equity than a second-lien line can reach. The refinance resets the whole loan; the line adds to it. Compare the blended cost of the two before choosing. For the refinance route, see the investment property cash-out refinance.
For the South Haven self-employed owner whose business deposits tell a better story than the returns, on a property held personally. Where the rental’s own rent covers the line, the DSCR HELOC asks for less; where it does not, the bank statement line reads the owner instead. For the deposit-qualified route, see the bank statement HELOC.
What to prepare for a South Haven scenario review.
Prepare the rental’s paperwork, not yours. The list below is what a South Haven landlord typically gathers; the selected lender may ask for more depending on the entity, the property type, and the lien position.
This is a general preparation guide, not a universal checklist. The selected lender may request additional information based on the lease, the entity, the property, the lien position, and the credit profile. Nothing here is legal or tax advice.
Local details that can change the line.
The tables set the ceiling; the details below move the actual line on a South Haven rental up or down, or decide whether the file closes at all. Each card ends with the thing to confirm before you plan around a figure.
Use these checks to keep the South Haven file clean and fundable.
Three things decide most South Haven files: the credit tier, which sets the ceiling and the cap; the valuation, which sets the value the ceiling applies to; and the rent, which decides how much of the line the property carries. The rest are gates: lien position, vesting, seasoning, the property list, and the listing history.
- Confirm the vesting: Which title holders and first-mortgage borrowers will sign as non-borrowing owners.
- Confirm the dates: The settlement date the ownership clock started on.
- Confirm the history: Whether the submarket could draw a declining-market flag on the valuation.
Title in your name or your LLC
A trust on title is a different question from an entity on title: a land trust is on the program’s ineligible list, and a revocable trust is read by the lender case by case. A South Haven rental in an LLC is written in the LLC’s name; a rental in a land trust is not written at all.
The seasoning clock on purchases and refinances
A rental bought or refinanced inside the program’s seasoning window is not eligible yet, measured note date to note date, and ownership seasons on its own clock from the purchase settlement. A South Haven investor who closed this spring plans the line for after the window.
A recent listing, a solar lien, a declining market
A declining-market designation on the valuation trims the ceiling by a set number of points, a listing inside the program’s window makes the rental ineligible until the window passes, and a solar lien on title stops the closing until it is cleared. Each is the appraiser’s or the title company’s call, and a South Haven file near the ceiling can lose the top of the line to the first of them.
The closing draw and the later draws
Most of the line funds at closing, and the closing draw has a floor of its own; the line is not opened empty as a reserve. A South Haven owner who wants a standing reserve sizes the line for the amount that will actually be drawn, since interest accrues on the drawn balance from closing.
The credit tier decides the ceiling and the cap
The score that counts is the one on the report the lender pulls, not the one in an app; a self-pulled score can land a tier away. Each tier on the ladder carries its own ceiling and cap by lien position, so a South Haven line can change size without the value or the balance moving at all.
From a South Haven rental prequalification to a funded line.
Four steps, one file: review, prequalify, verify, close. Each one below says what the lender reads and what the South Haven owner provides, and none of them promises a timeline, because the valuation, the title search, and the entity review set their own.
Scenario review
The review starts with four numbers and one document: value, balance, score, rent, and the lease. From them the loan officer reads the tier, the ceiling, the cap, and whether the rent carries the line, and names anything in the file that needs a check before prequalification.
Prequalification
Prequalification is where the file becomes real: the report replaces the estimate, the lease replaces the owner’s rent figure, and the entity’s papers are read. What comes out is a line amount, a lien position, and a short list of items to verify.
Verification and valuation
Verification proves what prequalification assumed. Value, title, insurance, entity standing, the first-mortgage balance, and the rent are each confirmed from their own documents, and the line is finalized on the verified figures before closing documents are drawn.
Closing and funding
Closing documents are signed by every borrower and guarantor, non-borrowing owners sign their acknowledgments, and the closing draw funds after any rescission period the law provides. The rest of the South Haven line is available through the draw period.
A brokerage that matches the line to the rental.
Three reasons South Haven landlords bring a rental line to a broker rather than a bank: the program is placed through select wholesale lenders, the file is read against more than one route, and the entity on title is not a problem to be solved before the conversation starts.
Four routes, the right one quoted
A landlord whose returns are clean may do better on the income-qualified line; one whose first-mortgage rate is poor may do better on a refinance. The comparison is made on the file, not on the product, and the South Haven owner sees it.
The entity stays on title
Landlords who built a portfolio inside entities for liability reasons should not have to unwind it for a line. The DSCR HELOC is placed through a wholesale program that writes the entity, and Lendmire’s South Haven review starts with the deed as it is.
Licensed, in writing, the lender never named
Lendmire is the broker, not the lender. The program is placed with select lenders in the wholesale network; the figures on this page are program parameters subject to underwriting, and the rate and the payment on a South Haven line are quoted in writing, never on a web page.
Trusted by landlords & investors alike.
South Haven DSCR HELOC FAQs
Common questions, answered plainly. Where a figure matters, the snapshot carries it; where a judgment matters, a licensed loan officer makes it.
What is a DSCR HELOC?
A home equity line of credit on a rental property that qualifies on the property’s rent instead of the owner’s income. The lender divides the gross rent by the qualifying payment on the line, the quotient must reach the program’s coverage minimum, and the owner’s tax returns and debt ratio never enter the file. The line sits behind the first mortgage or stands first on a paid-off rental, and title may stay in an LLC.
Can the rental stay in my LLC?
The LLC stays. The program was written for exactly this file: a rental held in an entity, a line behind its first mortgage, the rent qualifying the line, the members standing behind it as guarantors. A South Haven owner does not deed the property to a personal name to borrow against it.
How is the rent test calculated?
It is a coverage ratio like a DSCR loan’s, measured on the line: gross rent over the qualifying payment on the whole line at a stressed rate. A South Haven rental with modest rent and deep equity qualifies for a smaller line than its equity would support, because the rent, not the equity, is the binding gate.
Is an appraisal required?
Not always a full one. Smaller lines are valued by an automated model with a property inspection; larger lines take a full interior appraisal. The valuation, whichever path, sets the value the ceiling applies to, and the appraiser’s rent schedule travels with it on a South Haven file.
How do the draw period and repayment work?
The line has two lives: an interest-only draw period and an amortizing repayment period, shown in the snapshot. A large share of the line funds at closing by program rule, later draws are at least the program minimum, and the payment rises when the repayment period begins.
Can the line be a first lien on a paid-off rental?
Yes. A rental with no mortgage can carry the line in first position: a full title policy is required, the credit floor is lower than the second-lien floor, the ceiling is higher, and the largest lines run to the first-lien maximum at a reduced ceiling. The rent test applies the same way.
Does a duplex or fourplex qualify?
Yes, up to four units. The lender reads each lease, allows one vacant unit, and tests the combined gross rent against the qualifying payment on the whole line. A South Haven owner with a unit between tenants does not wait for the lease to open the line.
What credit history does the program expect?
Clean recent housing history and a seasoned credit event if there was one. A South Haven landlord whose personal credit is thin because the business carries the debt is read the same way as anyone else, on the score and the history, since the depth rules are waived at every tier the program offers.
What does the closing look like on an LLC-held rental?
The LLC is the borrower of record and the members are the guarantors; the title holders who are not borrowers acknowledge the line. Nothing about the South Haven deed changes. The closing draw funds the line, and the balance is available through the draw period.
Is there a minimum line or a minimum draw?
There is a minimum line, a minimum closing draw as a share of the line and as a dollar amount, and a minimum later draw. A South Haven owner planning a small reserve should size the line for what will actually be drawn, because interest accrues on the closing draw from day one.
Size the line on the rent, not the tax returns.
Start with the figures: the rental’s value, the mortgage on it, your credit tier, the lease. The review takes minutes, states program parameters rather than offers, and names anything in the file that needs a check.
This guide covers South Haven — for the statewide ceilings, tiers, and state rules, see DSCR HELOC in Michigan, part of Lendmire’s DSCR HELOC program.
Nearby markets in Michigan: Saugatuck · Kalamazoo · Portage · Niles · Wyoming · Kentwood · Grand Rapids · Norton Shores
Other loan programs in South Haven: DSCR Loans in South Haven, MI · Super Jumbo DSCR Loans in South Haven, MI · Short-Term Rental Loans in South Haven, MI · Investment Property Cash-Out Refinance in South Haven, MI · Hard Money Loans in South Haven, MI · Bank Statement Loans in South Haven, MI · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans in South Haven, MI · Bank Statement HELOC in South Haven, MI · Investment Property HELOC in South Haven, MI