Twenty-one days to close under contract
I'm under contract with a 21-day close — what has to happen by when?
21 days is the runway a standard DSCR purchase is built around, not a cushion — the sequence below is where that time actually goes.
- DSCR rental purchase loan This is the standard runway a DSCR purchase is built around — application, appraisal, and underwriting each have room to run in sequence rather than being compressed.
- Treating 21 days as slack rather than the actual runway A DSCR file has more steps than a hard money file even without personal income documentation — a full appraisal, entity review, and investor-style underwriting all still take real time.
Lenders in the directory
No lender here publishes a rule for this
This is an underwriting judgment, not a published threshold. None of the 37 lenders in the directory states a policy on it, so there is no honest way to build a shortlist — and a list computed only from which products a lender writes would tell you nothing you could act on.
What matters here is how the file is presented rather than which lender receives it. The sections below cover that. When you are ready to approach lenders, the directory shows what each one does publish, with the date it was verified.
The rough order of operations
Application and initial disclosures happen in the first few days. The appraisal is ordered immediately, since it's usually the single longest step. Underwriting conditions get cleared while the appraisal is out. Clear-to-close and the final walk-through land near the end of the window.
Where a 21-day file typically slips
An appraisal that comes back later than scheduled, an underwriting condition that needs a document the borrower doesn't have on hand, or title work that surfaces something late are the usual culprits — see appraisal came in low and title issue found late for what to do in each of those two cases specifically.
What the borrower controls versus what the lender controls
Responding to underwriting conditions the same day they're requested, and getting the appraisal scheduled quickly, are borrower-influenced. The lender's own queue and the appraiser's calendar generally are not.
When 21 days is genuinely tight
A leased property with straightforward, documented rent is the easier case. A vacant property needing a market-rent estimate, or an LLC with multiple members needing document review, both add steps that can make 21 days feel short.
What to have ready
- Entity documents ready if titling in an LLC, before underwriting asks for them
- A signed lease or comparable rent data ready for the appraiser
- An insurance quote requested in the first week, not the third
- A same-day response plan for any underwriting conditions
Questions
What's the single most time-sensitive step in a 21-day DSCR close?
Does a vacant property take longer to close than a leased one?
What happens if the appraisal isn't back in time?
Terms used on this page
- Form 1007 (Single-Family Comparable Rent Schedule) — Form 1007 is a one-page appraisal addendum, ordered alongside the standard appraisal on a one-unit property, in which the appraiser identifies comparable rentals and reconciles them to a single opinion of the property’s market rent.
- Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) — DSCR is a property’s gross monthly rent divided by its total monthly mortgage payment. A DSCR of 1.00 means the rent exactly covers the payment; 1.25 means rent exceeds the payment by 25%.