You have the down payment. You found the property. You have run the numbers more carefully than most people who already own five.
And the program is written for someone who has done this before.
There is a door, it is narrow, and it has exactly three conditions on it.
The default rule
From CMG Financial's Non-QM Sharp Series guidelines (NMLS #1820, revised 09/21/2026):
The Sharp DSCR Program is only eligible for Professional Investors. Professional Investors must have at least twelve months of experience owning and/or managing income-producing real estate within the most recent thirty-six months from the origination of the note.
Twelve months of experience, inside the last thirty-six. Owning or managing. That is the standard, and most first-time buyers of an investment property do not meet it.
The exception, and its three conditions
First Time Investors are allowed provided that the DSCR is greater than 1.0, the credit score is greater than 700, and there are no exceptions on the file.
Plus two limits:
- Maximum loan size is limited to $2,000,000
- First Time Investors may not be a First Time Homebuyer
Take them one at a time, because each one is doing real work.
Coverage above 1.0x. Not 0.75x, which is eligible generally. Not No Ratio, which is acceptable with restrictions generally. Greater than 1.0. The property has to cover its payment, with the full PITIA including taxes, insurance with six months of rent loss coverage, and association dues.
This is the condition that most often decides it, and it means the property selection matters more for you than for an experienced investor. A thin deal that a professional investor could finance at 0.75x is not available to you.
Score above 700. Not 660, which is the program minimum generally. Above 700.
No exceptions on the file. Everything else has to be clean. An exception request on any other item removes the first-time investor accommodation, so this is a file that has to be straightforward in every respect.
Not a first-time homebuyer. This is the one people miss.
You can be new to investing. You cannot be new to owning property. If you have never owned a home, this exception is not available to you, and the order of operations is: buy your own home first, then buy the rental.
That is a genuinely important planning point, and it is rarely mentioned until someone is already under contract.
The letter of explanation
Required regardless of whether you are experienced:
A Letter of Explanation by the borrower or guarantor is required to detail relevant real estate experience. The investor reserves the right to request specific documentation to validate it.
If you have any relevant background, put it in properly. Owning your own home. Managing a property for a family member. A short-term rental you operated. Work in property management, construction, real estate sales or lending. Time as a landlord in another state.
This is not a formality and it should not be two sentences. It is the document that supports the experience question, and the lender may ask for documentation backing what you claim, so claim only what you can support.
What the leverage looks like
With coverage above 1.0x and a score above 700, you are in the best column of the grid, which is the upside of the coverage condition.
At a 740 score, DSCR 1.00x or better, on a purchase: 80% to $1,000,000, 75% to $1,500,000 and to $2,000,000.
At a 720 score: 80% to $1,000,000, 75% to $1,500,000 and to $2,000,000.
At a 700 score: 75% to $1,000,000 and to $1,500,000, 70% to $2,000,000. Note that the exception requires a score greater than 700, so plan around the tier above it.
Your $2,000,000 cap means the top two rows of the grid are not relevant to you anyway.
Reserves and the rest of the file
- Reserves by loan size: three months from $100,000 to $500,000, six months from $500,001 to $2,000,000
- Additional financed properties require no reserves
- Payment history 0x30x12 and three or more years of housing event seasoning
- Housing history verified on the subject and your primary residence, whether or not you are on the note or vested on title
- Rent loss insurance equal to at least six months of local average monthly rents
- Personal recourse and a Personal Guaranty Agreement
- 1-4 Family Rider and Assignment of Rents, Fannie Mae Form 3170
- 2-4 unit properties and warrantable condominiums are capped at 75% loan-to-value and combined loan-to-value
One more exclusion worth knowing before you shop new construction: the investor will not purchase loans secured by a newly constructed second home or investment property, purchase or refinance, where the borrower has a relationship or business affiliation with the builder, developer or seller.
Price conventional in the same conversation
On a first investment property, conventional financing is frequently cheaper, and you may well qualify for it.
Conventional investment lending uses your personal income and your debt-to-income ratio, which for a first property is usually not yet strained. It typically prices better than non-QM. The reason investors move to DSCR is that the ratio stops working somewhere around the third or fourth property, not that DSCR is inherently better.
So the honest sequence is: price both. Take conventional if it works and is cheaper. Move to DSCR when your ratio, not your preference, requires it. Any lender who will not run that comparison is selling you the product they would rather write.
Your four questions
- Do I own, or have I owned, my own home? If not, this exception is closed.
- Does the property cover its payment above 1.0x with real insurance and real association dues?
- Is my score above 700?
- Is there anything on my file that would require an exception?
Four answers, one conversation. Then price it against conventional before you commit.
Common questions
Can a first-time investor get a DSCR loan? Yes, if the DSCR is greater than 1.0, the credit score is greater than 700, and there are no exceptions on the file. Maximum loan size is $2,000,000.
What counts as a professional investor? At least twelve months of experience owning or managing income-producing real estate within the most recent thirty-six months from origination of the note.
Can I buy a rental as my first property ever? Not under this exception. A first-time investor may not be a first-time homebuyer, so you need to have owned a home before using it.
Do I need a letter about my experience? Yes. A letter of explanation detailing your relevant real estate experience is required, and the investor may request documentation validating it.
Should I use DSCR or conventional for my first rental? Price both. Conventional usually costs less and works while your personal debt-to-income ratio can still absorb the property. DSCR becomes necessary when the ratio stops working, typically after several properties.
Related reading
- DSCR and investor property loans, the full index for this topic
- DSCR Loan FAQ: The Questions Investors Ask Before Their First One
- How to Calculate DSCR Yourself Before You Write the Offer
- DSCR or Conventional Investment Financing: Which One Your Fifth Property Needs
Why bring this file to us
- We check the three conditions before anything else. All three are answerable in one conversation and two of them are not fixable later.
- We build the experience letter properly, which is a required document and is frequently treated as an afterthought.
- We price conventional alongside it, because on a first property it is often the cheaper loan.
- Broker model. Multiple investors rather than one bank's shelf, which is what a file like this needs when the first answer is no.
- You talk to the principal. Ricky Khamis is President of EPiQ Lending and a Certified Mortgage Planner, NMLS #173141, originating mortgages since 1999. Direct line: (480) 999-9842.
EPiQ Lending is NMLS #1936984, at 7975 N. Hayden Road, Suite A-101 in Scottsdale. Verify all of it before you trust any of it: Ricky's EPiQ Lending profile, the Scottsdale branch, and the license itself at NMLS Consumer Access. Hold every lender to that standard, including us.
Tell me whether you own your own home and what the property's coverage looks like. Those two answers decide whether the exception is open to you.
Program figures in this post come from the CMG Financial (NMLS #1820) guideline set named above, as published on the revision date given. CMG Financial is the parent company of EPiQ Lending. These figures describe one investor's program at one point in time. Other investors price and underwrite the same borrower differently, guidelines change without notice, and nothing here is an offer of any specific program or terms. Confirm current eligibility on your own file before you plan around any of it.
Equal Housing Opportunity. This is general information, not a commitment to lend or an offer to extend credit. Rates, terms, and program guidelines change and depend on credit approval, property appraisal, income and asset verification, and other qualifying factors. Not all applicants will qualify. Non-QM, asset-based and business purpose financing carry different pricing, terms and consumer protections than agency financing. Consult your tax advisor regarding the tax treatment of any income or distribution strategy.
Run the coverage ratio before you write the offer
DSCR files are decided by the rent against the payment. Send the address and the rent and I will tell you where the ratio lands before you are committed.
