Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac let a single borrower carry conventional mortgages on up to 10 one- to four-unit residential properties at once, and that count includes your primary home.1Fannie Mae. B2-2-03, Multiple Financed Properties for the Same Borrower So the short answer to how many conventional loans you can have is ten, but reaching that ceiling is a different question from starting there. Every property past your first tightens the rules on down payments, cash reserves, credit, and pricing, and a few quiet details decide whether a given property counts toward the cap at all.
What Counts Toward the 10-Property Limit
The count follows the person, not the property. If you’re personally obligated on the note, that property is in your total, even if you co-signed a family member’s loan and don’t live there. Owning a partial interest in a financed property still counts as one full unit.1Fannie Mae. B2-2-03, Multiple Financed Properties for the Same Borrower
A borrower who owns four financed investment properties through an LLC, but is not personally obligated on those mortgages, does not include them in the count. The trigger is personal obligation on the debt, not ownership of the entity. Personally guarantee the LLC’s mortgage and it counts again.1Fannie Mae. B2-2-03, Multiple Financed Properties for the Same Borrower
Some things stay outside the count entirely. Commercial buildings with five or more units aren’t residential one-to-four-unit properties, so they don’t apply. Vacant land you own free and clear doesn’t apply either. Only financed residential properties of four units or fewer feed the 10-property total.
Down Payment Rules as You Add Properties
Every property beyond your primary home asks for more money at closing. The minimums depend on how you’ll use the property and how many units it has.
- Second home: maximum 90% loan-to-value, so at least 10% down.2Freddie Mac Single-Family. Maximum LTV/TLTV/HTLTV Ratio Requirements for Conforming and Super Conforming Mortgages
- One-unit investment property: maximum 85% LTV, so at least 15% down.3Fannie Mae. Eligibility Matrix
- Two- to four-unit investment property: maximum 75% LTV, so at least 25% down.2Freddie Mac Single-Family. Maximum LTV/TLTV/HTLTV Ratio Requirements for Conforming and Super Conforming Mortgages
Cash-out refinances tighten further. A one-unit investment property tops out at 75% LTV on a cash-out refi, and a two- to four-unit investment property drops to 70%.2Freddie Mac Single-Family. Maximum LTV/TLTV/HTLTV Ratio Requirements for Conforming and Super Conforming Mortgages
Every conventional loan has to fit inside the conforming loan limit. For 2026 that ceiling is $832,750 on a one-unit property in most of the country, and $1,249,125 in designated high-cost areas.4FHFA. FHFA Announces Conforming Loan Limit Values for 2026 Loans above those amounts are jumbo mortgages and follow lender-specific rules instead.
Cash Reserves Scale With Your Portfolio
Reserves are where applications for property four, five, or six start feeling real. Fannie Mae requires liquid funds against every financed property, and the required percentage rises as your portfolio grows.5Fannie Mae. B3-4.1-01, Minimum Reserve Requirements
- One to four financed properties: 2% of the aggregate unpaid principal balance.
- Five to six financed properties: 4% of the aggregate unpaid principal balance.
- Seven to ten financed properties: 6% of the aggregate unpaid principal balance.
Put numbers to that. Seven properties with a combined unpaid principal balance of $2 million call for $120,000 sitting in liquid accounts before a lender will fund property number eight. Savings, checking, and non-retirement brokerage accounts qualify. Retirement accounts may count at a discounted value depending on the lender.
One carve-out: HomeReady loans. If your transaction qualifies as HomeReady, the extra reserve requirements for multiple financed properties don’t apply.1Fannie Mae. B2-2-03, Multiple Financed Properties for the Same Borrower
Credit Score and DTI Once You’re Past Six Properties
Fannie Mae doesn’t publish a hard credit-score cutoff for borrowers with multiple financed properties. Loans run through Desktop Underwriter are evaluated on overall risk without a stated minimum.6Fannie Mae. General Requirements for Credit Scores In practice, individual lenders commonly require at least 720 once you’re financing property seven or higher. That’s a lender overlay, not a Fannie Mae rule, but the effect is the same when you’re the one applying.
Manually underwritten loans have a stated floor of 620 for fixed-rate products and 640 for adjustable-rate mortgages. Manual underwriting isn’t available for borrowers with seven to ten financed properties, so those loans have to run through DU.6Fannie Mae. General Requirements for Credit Scores
On debt-to-income, Fannie Mae’s standard maximum is 36%. Compensating factors like strong credit or substantial reserves can stretch that to 45%.7Fannie Mae. Debt-to-Income Ratios Rental income from existing properties helps, but lenders typically count only about 75% of gross rents to account for vacancy and maintenance. The underwriter looks at your total debt load across every property, not just the loan you’re applying for.
Investment Properties Cost More Even When You Qualify
Fannie Mae imposes loan-level price adjustments that raise the effective interest rate or require discount points at closing. For a purchase on a one-unit investment property, the LLPA runs from 1.125% of the loan amount at low LTV to 4.125% once LTV goes above 80%.8Fannie Mae. LLPA Matrix
On a $400,000 loan, a 1.125% adjustment is $4,500 in added upfront cost, paid as points or absorbed into a higher rate. At the 4.125% tier, that same loan carries $16,500 in extra pricing. These adjustments stack on top of other LLPAs tied to your credit score and LTV, so an investor with a moderate credit score buying at 80% LTV can face significantly higher total costs than someone buying a primary home under otherwise identical terms. The rule of thumb that investment-property rates run 1% to 2% higher than owner-occupied rates holds up, but the actual premium depends on the full LLPA calculation for your file.
Gift Funds Are Off the Table for Rentals
Gift funds from a family member are allowed on a primary home or second home, but not on an investment property purchase. Every dollar of the down payment and reserves on a rental has to come from your own accounts.9Fannie Mae. Personal Gifts Borrowers get caught by this when a relative offers to help fund a rental acquisition; the lender will reject that source during underwriting.
A gift of equity, where a family member sells you a property below market value and the difference counts as equity, is allowed for primary and second homes. It can’t be used to satisfy reserve requirements on any property type.9Fannie Mae. Personal Gifts
Options After You Reach 10 Properties
Once you hold conventional financing on 10 properties, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac won’t back an eleventh. Common alternatives at that point:
- DSCR loans, which qualify the property based on the rental income it produces rather than your personal income or the number of mortgages you already hold. DSCR lenders generally impose no cap on financed properties. The trade is higher rates and larger down payments than conventional financing.
- Portfolio loans, held on a bank’s or credit union’s own books instead of being sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Because they’re not bound by agency guidelines, they can approve borrowers past the 10-property limit. Terms vary widely from lender to lender.
- Commercial loans, for properties with five or more units. Commercial financing evaluates the asset’s income and your business entity’s financials rather than your personal mortgage count.
Some investors also pay off the mortgage on a lower-value property to free a slot under the 10-property cap, then use conventional financing for a higher-value acquisition where the better rate is worth more.