Skip to main content
Apply nowApply now
Direct private lending in most states
Call us anytime at 512-617-9400
Program 02
Rental / DSCR in San Francisco
San Francisco DSCR loans built for rent-controlled, high-basis rentals.
We fund DSCR rental loans on the property's cash flow, not your income: DSCR as low as 0.75, rates from 5.5% interest-only, and 30-year fixed options up to 80% LTV. In this metro that cash flow depends on a date, not a neighborhood. San Francisco rent control turns on whether the certificate of occupancy predates June 13, 1979, and that single fact decides whether a rent increase is capped, just-cause only, or governed by statewide law. As with every USA Mortgage loan, this is business-purpose financing, subject to 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.
Run your Rental / DSCR numbers.
Pressure-test the deal in seconds with our free dscr calculator, no sign-up required.
Local FAQ
Rental / DSCR in San Francisco, answered.
Does San Francisco rent control affect how a DSCR loan gets underwritten?
Yes, and the rule turns on one date: June 13, 1979. A multi-unit property with a certificate of occupancy issued on or before that date is rent-controlled, capped at a 1.6% annual increase for the current cycle (2026-03-01 through 2027-02-28). A unit built after that date is exempt from the price cap but still subject to just-cause eviction rules, and most single-family homes and condos where the tenant moved in on or after 1996-01-01 carry eviction protection without a rent cap. A single-family rental with no corporate ownership can also fall outside the local cap entirely but still be subject to the statewide AB 1482 cap. Pull the certificate of occupancy date before you underwrite the rent line, and confirm entity structure with your attorney or CPA, since titling a single-family rental into an LLC with a corporate member can pull it back under the statewide cap.
What do rents and yields actually look like across the metro?
Rents are rising faster than prices, and yields are thin everywhere. Gross yields (annual rent divided by value, a screening ratio only) run from 2.35% in Berkeley to 5.07% in Richmond as of July 2026, with the City of San Francisco itself at 3.85%. There is no submarket in this metro where a market-rate purchase covers debt service at typical DSCR pricing without a meaningful down payment. The offsetting story is rent growth: metro-wide rent is up 9.7% year over year, and rent within the City of San Francisco is up 23.2% over the same period. A DSCR file underwritten to trailing rent, rather than current rent, is underwriting the wrong number in this market. If your own documented income can carry the file instead, see San Francisco conventional investment terms.
What does the Rent Board require of every owner, even an exempt property?
Annual registration, and it is a condition of collecting a rent increase, not a formality. Every owner of San Francisco residential property, including post-1979 condos, single-family homes and vacant units, must report to the Rent Board Housing Inventory by March 1 each year, and a rent increase notice is unenforceable without a current license on the effective date. Every owner also owes the Rent Board fee, $59.00 per dwelling unit for the 2025-2026 tax year, of which half is collectible from the tenant. An out-of-state borrower who assumes a Costa-Hawkins-exempt property sits outside the Rent Board's reach entirely is the single most common mistake we see underwriting this market.
What does it cost to turn a tenanted unit before refinancing or reselling?
It has a published price, and it is large. For 2026-03-01 through 2027-02-28, an owner or relative move-in, demolition, or capital improvement eviction pays $8,245.00 per tenant up to a $24,733.00 per-unit cap; an Ellis Act withdrawal pays $11,110.05 per tenant up to $33,330.13 per unit. The first schedule adds $5,497.00 for each tenant 60 or older, each disabled tenant, or a household with minor children, and Ellis adds $7,443.90 for each tenant 62 or older or each disabled tenant. On a multi-unit building this is a six-figure line item before any construction cost, and it belongs in the deal's underwriting from day one, not in a footnote after the rent roll. For a larger multifamily reposition, see San Francisco CRE bridge loans, where we cover the same relocation math at scale.
How should I budget the property tax on a San Francisco DSCR purchase?
Underwrite the tax at the price you're paying, not the seller's bill. Every California purchase reassesses the property to the price paid, and a purchase closing between January 1 and May 31 produces two supplemental tax bills outside the normal cycle, mailed within 60 days of the assessment notice; a June 1 through December 31 closing produces one. An escrow or DSCR debt-service reserve set from the seller's prior-year tax bill will fall short in year one, and it falls short worst on properties the seller has held the longest.
What's the actual rental vacancy rate in the Bay Area?
Low single digits, and the margin of error matters as much as the number. The Census Bureau puts the metro's rental vacancy rate at 4.2% in Q2 2026, with a margin of error of 1.9 points, a range of roughly 2.3% to 6.1%. Homeowner vacancy sat at 1.9%, margin of error 1.2 points. That supports calling this a low-vacancy rental market; it does not support a precise year-over-year comparison, since the survey sample is small enough that a swing inside that range could be noise rather than a real move. No county-level or city-level vacancy rate is published for this metro, so do not narrow the number to San Francisco proper or any single submarket.
How much do I need to put down on a San Francisco DSCR loan?
Plan on at least 20% of the purchase price, plus closing costs. Maximum leverage is up to 80% LTV, so on a $900,000 purchase that is up to $720,000 from us and $180,000 from you (900,000 x 80% = 720,000). Expect to put in more than the minimum on a lot of files here, because gross yields across this metro run from 2.35% in Berkeley to 5.07% in Richmond and a thinner yield needs a smaller loan to clear the coverage test. The down payment is a lever you control; the rent is not. Subject to underwriting.
Is the loan size big enough for a San Francisco DSCR purchase?
We write from $100,000 to $3,000,000 on this program. The City of San Francisco's mid-tier home value was $1,416,278 in July 2026, so a single-property purchase in the city usually sits inside that ceiling, and an East Bay purchase sits well inside it. Where the ceiling bites is a larger multi-unit building, since 80% LTV on a $3,750,000 property already hits the $3,000,000 cap (3,750,000 x 80% = 3,000,000). Above that, ask us about the bridge or portfolio side instead. Subject to underwriting.
Sources: files.zillowstatic.com
My San Francisco rental is rent-controlled and the rent sits under market. Can it still qualify?
Often yes, because we write DSCR from 0.75. A coverage ratio below 1.0 means the rent does not fully cover the debt service, and we still lend on it, which matters in the City of San Francisco, where a certificate of occupancy on or before June 13, 1979 caps the annual increase at 1.6% for the current cycle and can hold a unit years behind market. A sub-1.0 file typically prices and levers differently than a strong one, so the trade is usually a larger down payment rather than a decline. Send us the rent roll and the certificate of occupancy date together. 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 San Francisco
Other programs in San Francisco
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 2026-08-21.
Funding San Francisco deals fast.
Get real terms, usually same day. No obligation, no hard credit pull to start.