"Can I Count Rent From an Investment Property I Bought Within 45 Days of My New Home? How Fannie Mae's 45-Day Rule Works and How to Plan Both Closings"

You close on your investment property on a Tuesday. Three weeks later you close on the home you are going to live in. The tenant for your investment property signed a lease last weekend, and the rent on that lease covers the investment property's monthly payment with a little left over. So your investment property feels like it is paying for itself before you sit down at the closing on your new home.

Yes, with a limit. Under Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.8-06, the lender takes 75 percent of the investment property's market rent, subtracts that property's full monthly payment, and uses a positive result only to cover that payment. It cannot add to your income. A negative result counts against you as a debt, and the rent comes from an appraisal or comparable rental properties rather than your lease.

I'm Jeff Moran, a mortgage broker in Bluffton, South Carolina, originating since 1996, licensed in fifteen states, NMLS #483943, through C2 Financial Corporation. If you are buying the home you will live in and an investment property close together, I want to build both files at the same time, and this is the rule we build them around.

The rule for an investment property bought within 45 days of the home you will live in

Fannie Mae wrote a section for this situation: Selling Guide B3-3.8-06, Rental Income from Non-Subject Property: Investment Properties Purchased within 45 Days of the Subject Property, revised 09/02/2026. It covers a one- to four-unit investment property that you bought within 45 days of your application date on the home you are financing. I count the 45 days from that application date.

Two other rules apply alongside it. If you are moving out of your home and renting it, that runs under the departing residence rule, which renting out the home you are leaving covers. If you have owned the investment property for a while, it runs under the ordinary rule, Selling Guide B3-3.8-04, which does rental income count when I buy another home covers. The 45-day section changes two things: which document sets the rent, and what a positive result can do.

How does Fannie Mae calculate rental income on a property bought within 45 days?

I start with the monthly market rent on your investment property, take 75 percent of it, and subtract the full monthly payment on that property. Fannie Mae calls that full payment PITIA, which is principal, interest, property taxes, insurance and any association dues. Fannie Mae calls the result adjusted net rental income, or ANRI.

Fannie Mae then tells me what to do with the result, in two sentences. "If ANRI is positive, the lender may use rental income to offset the PITIA only." And: "If ANRI is negative, the lender must include the amount in the DTI ratio."

DTI is your debt-to-income ratio, your monthly debts measured against your monthly income before taxes, and how the debt-to-income ratio works walks through it. So if your result is positive, I take the investment property's payment out of your debts on the file for the home you will live in, and nothing else changes. If it is negative, I add the shortfall to your debts.

A positive result covers that property's payment and nothing else

Under the general rental rules in Selling Guide B3-3.8-01, General Rental Income Information, revised 09/02/2026, if you have at least twelve months of property management experience, I can add positive rental income from another property to your monthly income. The 45-day section does not give me that option. It says offset only, with no exception for an experienced landlord.

This is why two closings close together can strain a pre-approval that looked fine on its own. The most a strong investment property can do on the file for your new home is take its own payment off the table. An investment property whose market rent falls short of its payment adds the shortfall to your debts in full. If I wrote your pre-approval before the investment property was in the picture, it had neither number in it, so we run your ratio again before either offer goes out.

Market rent sets the number, and your housing payment has to be on file

Fannie Mae settles the lease question in one line: "Lease agreements are not permitted for investment properties purchased within 45 days of the subject property." Your tenant can be signed and the deposit in the bank, and I still have to set the rent from market data.

I have three ways to do that. The first is a complete appraisal report on your investment property that includes the market rents, Form 1004 for a one-unit property or Form 1025 for two to four units. Fannie Mae lets me use the appraisal from the investment property's own loan application, so the report you already paid for can do the work on the file for the home you will live in. If there is no appraisal, I can order a Single-Family Comparable Rent Schedule, Form 1007, for a one-unit property. For a property with more than one unit, I can use market analysis tools such as Zillow, Redfin or the MLS, with at least three comparable rental properties from the same market area when possible.

I also have to document your current housing payment before any of the rent can be used: "The lender must document a current housing payment to use any rental income in qualifying." Fannie Mae defines a housing payment in B3-3.8-01 as what you pay now for the home you live in. That can be rent, a mortgage payment with taxes and insurance, or the property taxes on a home you own free and clear. If it is not on your credit report, I can document it with a rent verification, six months of bank statements or cancelled checks, or your latest property tax bill. If you are living with family and paying nothing, there is no housing payment to document, so none of the rent can be used and the investment property's full payment counts as a debt.

Planning two closings for an investment property and the home you will live in

We build both files at the same time. Before either offer goes out, I want the pre-approval on the home you will live in to carry the investment property's payment, the rent I will actually be allowed to use, and the cash both closings need. A documented pre-approval with the investment property in it is the one we want.

We order the investment property's appraisal with market rents and keep a copy. The appraisal from the investment property's own loan can carry over to the file for your new home, so I ask for its rent schedule from the start.

We document your current housing payment early. If you rent, the most recent six months of bank statements showing the rent leaving your account does it. If you own, your mortgage statement, property tax bill and insurance declaration page do it.

We count the cash for both closings together. Reserves are the money you still have after a closing, and Selling Guide B3-4.1-01, Minimum Reserve Requirements subtracts funds to close from your assets before it measures them. Fannie Mae's automated underwriting system asks for six months of the investment property's payment in reserves on an investment property purchase, and the cash that closes the earlier purchase is gone when the later file counts reserves. What counts as mortgage reserves lists the accounts that qualify.

We decide the order with the numbers in front of us. The 45-day section applies when your investment property is the other property on the file for the home you will live in. If your new home closes first and you go under contract on the investment property afterward, the new home file never carries the investment property. The investment property's own file then counts your new home payment as your housing payment. If the investment property has to close first and your new home application is dated more than 45 days later, the ordinary rule applies instead. Under that rule I can use a lease on a property you bought after your last tax return, and with twelve months of landlord experience I can add a positive result to your income. If this is your first investment property, the ordinary rule still caps a positive result at covering the investment property's payment, so the window mostly changes which document sets the rent.

We keep the occupancy labels true on both files. The home you will live in is a primary residence and the property you rent out is an investment property, and second home or investment property explains why that label is a statement of fact. If you still own another mortgaged home, does the payment on a property I already own count against my next mortgage covers it.

The mistakes I see on these files

Planning the home purchase around the lease rent. The underwriter works from the appraisal or the comparable rental properties, and if market rent comes in under the lease, the file for your new home carries the lower figure.

Treating the first pre-approval as still good. A pre-approval done before the investment property existed has no investment property payment and no shortfall in it, so the ratio needs to be run again once the investment property is under contract.

Spending the reserves at the first closing. The cash that goes into the down payment and closing costs at the earlier closing is not available as reserves on the later file, whichever order you close in. Both closings need to be budgeted from one starting balance.

An example with numbers

The numbers below are made up to show the mechanism, and they are not a quote.

Say you earn $12,000 a month before taxes, your car and credit cards add up to $600, and the full payment on the home you are buying is $3,200. Three weeks before your application on the home you are buying, you closed on a one-unit investment property with a PITIA of $2,000, and your tenant signed a one-year lease at $2,700.

In the first version, the appraiser's rent schedule puts market rent at $2,900.

Market rent from the Form 1007	$2,900
75 percent of that	$2,175
Less the investment property's PITIA	$2,000
Adjusted net rental income	$175

The $175 is positive, so it offsets the investment property's payment and the $2,000 leaves your debts entirely. Nothing is added to your income. Your debts are the new home's $3,200 plus the $600 in car and cards, $3,800 against $12,000, for a ratio of 31.7 percent.

In the second version, the rent schedule puts market rent at $2,400 while your lease says $2,700.

Market rent from the Form 1007	$2,400
75 percent of that	$1,800
Less the investment property's PITIA	$2,000
Adjusted net rental income	-$200

The $200 shortfall is added to your debts, which are now $3,200 plus $600 plus $200, or $4,000, for a ratio of 33.3 percent. The lease at $2,700 does not change that figure.

In the third version, you have been living with family and paying nothing, so there is no housing payment to document. None of the rent can be used, and the investment property's full $2,000 payment counts as a debt. Your debts are $5,800 against $12,000, for a ratio of 48.3 percent. Across the three versions, the file moved on two things only: the market rent the appraiser found, and whether you had a housing payment to document.

The documents to gather before we talk

When you're ready, please provide the complete purchase contract on your investment property, all pages and addenda, please, along with the appraisal report and the rent schedule once the appraiser delivers them. We will need the full monthly payment on the investment property too, so please provide the closing disclosure from that purchase, the current property tax bill and the homeowners insurance quote, all pages.

We will also need your current housing payment documented. If you rent, please provide the most recent six months of bank statements showing the rent payment, all pages, even if the last page is intentionally left blank. If you own, please provide the most recent mortgage statement, the property tax bill and the insurance declaration page.

Price your scenario with both properties in it

If you are planning to buy an investment property and the home you will live in close together, you can price your own scenario with your new home's payment, the investment property's payment and the rent the lender will use all in it. Then you choose a rate option that works best for you, and the selection can change as the two files come together.

Nothing here is a loan approval, a denial, or a commitment to lend. Fannie Mae revises these sections, so the linked text is the one to rely on.

Common questions

Can I use a lease to count rent on an investment property I bought within 45 days of buying my home?

No. Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.8-06, revised 09/02/2026, states that lease agreements are not permitted for investment properties purchased within 45 days of the home being financed. The lender documents market rent instead. That means a complete appraisal on the investment property that includes market rents, a Form 1007 rent schedule for a one-unit property, or market analysis tools with at least three comparable rental properties for a multi-unit property.

Does positive rental income from an investment property bought within 45 days add to my income?

No. Under B3-3.8-06, the lender multiplies the market rent by 75 percent and subtracts the investment property's full PITIA. If the result is positive, it may be used to offset that property's PITIA only, so the investment property's payment leaves your debt ratio and nothing is added to your income. This applies regardless of how long you have managed rental property.

What happens if the rent on my new investment property is less than its payment?

The shortfall counts against you. B3-3.8-06 says that if 75 percent of the market rent minus the investment property's PITIA is negative, the lender must include that amount in your debt-to-income ratio. It is counted in your monthly debts on the file for the home you will live in.

Do I need a current housing payment to use rental income on a property bought within 45 days?

Yes. B3-3.8-06 says the lender must document a current housing payment to use any rental income in qualifying. Selling Guide B3-3.8-01 defines a housing payment as the rent, the full mortgage payment, or the property taxes you currently pay on the home you live in. Rent verification, six months of bank statements or cancelled checks, or the latest tax bill documents it. With no housing payment on file, the investment property's full payment counts as a debt.

How is the 45-day window measured, and what changes outside it?

B3-3.8-06 counts the 45 days from the application date on the home you are financing. An investment property bought outside that window runs under Selling Guide B3-3.8-04, the ordinary rule. There, a lease can be used when the property was bought after your last tax return, and a client with twelve months of property management experience can add a positive result to income.

Estimates and educational information are not a loan approval or commitment to lend.