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Program 02
Rental / DSCR in Bellingham
Bellingham investors hold rentals with DSCR loans on cash flow.
Hold your rentals with financing that underwrites the asset, not just you. DSCR as low as 0.75, rates from 5.5% interest-only, and 30-year fixed options for single properties or whole portfolios. Bellingham single-family rent runs about 5.3% gross against the metro's home values, so these deals clear on low taxes and steady tenant demand, not on rent-to-price. Business-purpose only, and rates and structure are set in underwriting.
0.75
min DSCR
5.5%
rates from
30-yr
fixed avail.
80%
max LTV
Typical figures, subject to underwriting and market conditions. Not a commitment to lend.
How it works
No tax returns or personal income docs in most cases. We qualify on the property's cash flow, so you can scale your portfolio without the paperwork drag of conventional lending.
Who it's for
Buy-and-hold investors
Single rentals and portfolios
Short-term rentals considered
Rate/term and cash-out refi
Typical terms
Loan amount$100K to $3M
Max leverageUp to 80% LTV
DSCRFrom 0.75
CreditFrom 640
Term30-yr fixed / 5-7-10 ARM
RateFrom 5.50% IO*
PrepayFlexible structures
*Typical terms, subject to underwriting and market conditions.
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Local FAQ
Rental / DSCR in Bellingham, answered.
What's the real rental yield on a Bellingham buy-and-hold, before I run the DSCR math?
About 5.3% gross, before taxes, insurance or vacancy. Single-family rent across the Bellingham MSA (Zillow Observed Rent Index) ran $2,823 a month in July 2026 against a $643,770 mid-tier single-family value, and Bellingham carries the second-highest mid-tier single-family value of any Washington MSA, behind Seattle. A Bellingham DSCR hold clears on low vacancy, low property taxes and a stable institutional tenant base, not on rent-to-price, so size the deal on cash flow and appreciation together, not on yield alone.
Sources: files.zillowstatic.com
Does it matter which Whatcom County address I buy in for a DSCR hold?
Yes, by as much as 50% on the same assessed value. The county's consolidated property tax rate runs from 0.617% of assessed value in the unincorporated Birch Bay band (tax code area 3001) to 0.830% in the City of Bellingham (TCA 0100) and 0.930% in Sumas. Pull the parcel's tax code area before you finalize the DSCR calculation. Whatcom County's tax roll moves year to year, too: total taxes levied countywide rose 6.3% from 2025 to 2026, and one north-county fire district raised its levy 57.7% in that single year, so a Ferndale-area hold underwritten on last year's tax bill can be wrong.
Sources: whatcomcounty.us
I'm holding a rental inside Bellingham city limits. What does the registration program actually cost?
$20 per unit a year to register, plus an inspection every 3 to 3.5 years. Bellingham requires almost every residential rental in the city to register annually under BMC chapter 6.15, at $20 per unit for properties with 1 to 20 units (renewal due December 31 regardless of when you registered), and to pass a periodic safety inspection at $100 per unit with a city inspector or $45 per unit plus your own private inspector's fee. Sampling caps keep the burden manageable: no more than 4 units get inspected every three years on a property under 21 units, and the tier is set per property, not per portfolio, so three separate 10-unit buildings each still pay the $20 rate. No rental registration or inspection program was found for Ferndale, Lynden, Blaine, Everson, Nooksack, Sumas or unincorporated Whatcom County.
Sources: cob.org
Can I run my Bellingham rental as a short-term rental instead of a long-term lease?
Only if you live there. In Bellingham's residential zones, a short-term rental must be the primary residence of the owner or a long-term tenant (a lease of at least 270 days) for at least 270 days a year, and the whole unit can be rented no more than 95 days a year; a non-primary-residence short-term rental is not allowed. Commercial and urban village zones allow non-primary-residence short-term rentals with no day cap, and in unincorporated Whatcom County the County Council legalized vacation rentals in July 2023 in rural zones that allow single-family houses, with the Lake Whatcom Watershed the hard exception, where a conditional use permit applies. Underwrite a standard Bellingham residential-zone purchase as a long-term DSCR hold, not a short-term rental play.
Sources: cob.org
Should I worry about flood risk on a Whatcom County rental hold?
Yes, and you're carrying that exposure for years, not for a six-month flip. FEMA declared a major disaster covering Whatcom County (DR-4906, declared 2026-04-07) for flooding, landslides and mudslides from a December 2025 storm, and the National Flood Insurance Program paid 293 building claims totaling nearly $19.9 million in the county for that loss year alone, close to the $20.3 million paid across 329 claims in 2021. Fourteen of the last sixteen years produced almost no claims, so the risk is a low-frequency, high-severity binary, not a steady background cost. Everson, Nooksack, Sumas and Ferndale sit on or near the Nooksack corridor and carry that exposure directly; Bellingham proper drains to Bellingham Bay rather than the Nooksack. Pull the flood determination and, if the parcel is in the corridor, an elevation certificate before you close, not just before you buy insurance.
How much can I raise rent on a Bellingham DSCR property once I own it?
7% plus CPI or 10%, whichever is less, once a tenancy is over 12 months old. Washington's statewide rent-increase cap (HB 1217, effective 2025-05-07) applies here; the maximum for calendar 2026 is 9.683%. There's no cap on what you charge a new tenant after one vacates, and a building whose first certificate of occupancy issued 12 or fewer years before your notice is exempt. A non-owner-occupied detached single-family rental, the standard DSCR asset, is covered by the cap once the property is more than 12 years past its first certificate of occupancy. No Bellingham or Whatcom County rule was found stacking on top of the state cap.
How much do I put down on a Bellingham rental with a DSCR loan?
About 20% of the purchase. Leverage runs up to 80% LTV, so on a $650,000 Bellingham purchase that is $520,000 from us and $130,000 from you (650,000 x 80% = 520,000), plus closing costs. The property still has to carry itself at a DSCR from 0.75, and with gross yield here running near 5.3% it is usually the rent-to-price math, not the leverage cap, that sets your real down payment. Subject to underwriting.
What is the credit floor on a Bellingham DSCR loan?
640. Credit is a real gate on this program, unlike our asset-based rehab and bridge loans, where there is no minimum score at all. Here it sets pricing and leverage rather than the whole decision, and there is no hard pull to start. What does not change is the income read: no tax returns and no W-2s, because a Bellingham DSCR file qualifies on the property's rent. Subject to underwriting.
Is there a prepayment penalty if I sell a Bellingham rental early?
Prepay structures are flexible, and they get chosen at closing, not discovered later. A 30-year fixed or a 5, 7 or 10 year ARM can be written with different prepay terms, so tell us up front if you expect to sell. That matters here because a Bellingham exit is timed to a season more than to a choice: median days on market ran 39 to 48 from April through July and 93 in January. Subject to underwriting.
More Rental / DSCR questions, answered on the program page
Resources
Guides for Rental / DSCR
Rental / DSCR · 5 min read
What Is a DSCR Loan? How Investors Qualify on Rental Income
Read the guide Strategy · 6 min read
Financing the BRRRR Method: Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat
Read the guide Rental / DSCR · 5 min read
DSCR vs Conventional Loan: Which Is Better for Investment Property?
Read the guide Rates & Costs · 5 min read
Hard Money Loan Rates and Costs, Explained
Read the guide More in Bellingham
Other programs in Bellingham
Fix and FlipUp to 90% / 100% rehabGround-Up ConstructionUp to 70% LTV, most statesCRE BridgeUp to $10M, 24-36 moTransactional FundingSame-day double-close capitalBank Statement / No-DocNo tax returns requiredConventional InvestmentNon-owner-occupied investmentPortfolio LoansMultiple properties, one loanCRE PermanentLong-term agency & permSBA Financing7(a) & 504 placement
About the local figures on this page
Local rules move. Every tax rate, fee, ordinance and market figure here comes from a primary source and carries the date we read it, and we correct them as the rules change. Where a number is mid-change or we could not verify it, we say so rather than guess. Before you commit a budget, confirm anything that drives it with the city or county, and talk to your attorney or CPA on questions of law or tax.
Published by USA Mortgage Funding, LLC, NMLS #152588. Researched from primary sources by our team, drafted with AI assistance, and every figure checked against its source before publishing. Where an answer rests on a public record, that record is linked under it. Figures read on 2026-08-22.
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