Does the 30 percent equity overlay on departing residence rent stop property three?

The 75 percent factor is the part that's standard. A lender takes market rent from the appraiser's rent schedule or from a signed lease, cuts 25 percent off it for vacancy and maintenance, then nets the remainder against the full payment on that property. Your $2,150 becomes about $1,612 against $1,850, so property one adds roughly $238 of monthly liability rather than income. People expect rent to help and are surprised when a property that rents above its payment still hurts the ratio.

The 30 percent equity condition is not blanket agency text in the way it was described to you. It shows up as a lender or investor overlay applied to a departing residence with no rental history, and different shops write it differently. Some will accept a signed lease plus proof the security deposit cleared, with no equity test. Some want a 1007 rent schedule. Get the overlay language in writing before you shop rate, because the gap between counting $1,612 and counting zero is the whole deal.

Once a property has two years on Schedule E, the equity question generally drops away and the tax returns govern instead. That's the real argument for spacing acquisition three later rather than fighting an overlay you can't win.

Two things that bite at exactly your stage. Reserve requirements stack per financed property, often somewhere between two and six months of payments each, and that cash can't double as down payment. And a third primary purchase in the same metro draws underwriting questions about why you're moving, so your answer needs to be plain and consistent with everything on the application. Confirm all of it in writing with the specific lender, since overlays move around and vary by investor.