It depends on whether you plan to live in one of the units. For a pure rental, a DSCR loan sidesteps your personal DTI entirely; for an owner-occupied 2-4 unit, conventional now allows 5% down, but the DTI math still has to work. Pure investment purchase. The cleanest path around a high personal DTI is a DSCR loan. It qualifies on the property's rental income covering its own payment, so your personal ratios stop being the blocker. The trade-offs are real: a larger down payment (commonly 20 to 30 percent), typically a higher credit score and rate, and a market rent survey that often comes in conservative. These are non-agency products, so confirm current terms. Living in a 2-4 unit. Owner-occupying is the easiest way into rental ownership, and since late 2023 Fannie Mae allows 5% down on an owner-occupied 2-4 unit conventional purchase. The old 15% and 25% down requirements for 2-unit and 3-4 unit properties are gone. The catch: conventional is tighter on DTI than FHA and usually carries a higher payment, so if FHA already denied you on debt-to-income, conventional is unlikely to rescue the same deal. When DTI is the real blocker on an owner-occupied loan, there is no magic fallback. The honest levers: - A property that produces more qualifying rent - A lower purchase price - Paying down the revolving debt inflating your ratio - Adding income Send us the numbers and we can shop nearly 100 investors and tell you which structure, DSCR or owner-occupied, actually fits. That is what the free Roadmap conversation is for.