DSCR Loans in Knox County, Tennessee
Reviewed by Dominick Prevete, Founder & CEO, National Loan Provider31+ years in real estate finance
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In 2025 HMDA data, 195 lenders made 1,176 investment-property loans in Knox County, 7.4% of Tennessee's total. Dominick Prevete arranges DSCR loans across Knox County, Tennessee, qualified on the property's rent, not your tax returns. DSCR rental loans start from 7.25% (November 2026), and most close in 14 days. At HUD's fair market rent, a three-bedroom rental there covers its full payment up to a price of about $295,000.
Knox County investor market at a glance
| Statistic | Knox County | Tennessee | County rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investor loans | 1,176 | 15,845 | 3rd of 24 |
| Reporting lenders | 195 | 634 | 4th of 24 |
| Loan volume | $333.5M | $4.51B | 4th of 24 |
| Average loan | $284K | $285K | 7th of 24 |
| Median loan | $225K | $205K | 8th of 24 |
| Purchases | 57.6% | 57.0% | 14th of 24 |
| Cash-out refinances | 15.8% | 15.4% | 9th of 24 |
| 2–4 unit properties | 9.2% | 12.2% | 16th of 24 |
| Top five lenders' share | 23.6% | 14.7% | 23rd of 24 |
| Reported business-purpose | 62.8% | 66.4% | 12th of 24 |
Knox County: closed-end loans on 1–4 unit investment properties. Knox County's rank is highest first, among Tennessee's counties with at least 100 investor loans and 25 reporting lenders. Shares are of Knox County's investor loans.
What stands out in Knox County
The five most active lenders wrote 23.6% of Knox County's investor loans, the 2nd-lowest share of Tennessee's 24 counties with published data (statewide: 14.7%).
Lending here is spread across many lenders; the best fit depends on the deal more than the lender's size.
Knox County's 1,176 investor loans ranked 3rd of Tennessee's 24 counties with published data.
Does a DSCR loan pencil in Knox County?
At HUD's fair market rent of $1,844 for a 3-bedroom in Knox County, Tennessee, a rental covers its full DSCR payment up to a purchase price of about $295,000, with 20% down at the 7.25% starting rate (November 2026). Knox County's median home value is $320,900; at that price the payment is $1,999 a month, so the property would need $2,000 in rent to cover it.
Coverage under 1.00 doesn't end the deal: the DSCR programs Dominick arranges go down to no-ratio, priced for the lower coverage, and a lower price or a larger down payment raises the ratio.
| HUD fair market rent, 2 / 3 / 4 bedroom (FY2027) | $1,475 / $1,844 / $2,122 |
|---|---|
| Median home value (2020–2024 ACS 5-year) | $320,900 |
| Median property taxes and effective rate | $1,367 (0.43% of value) |
| Monthly payment on the median-value home: P&I, taxes, insurance | $1,999 |
| Rent needed to cover that payment | $2,000 |
| Coverage of a 3-bedroom at fair market rent | 0.92 |
| Highest price a 3-bedroom at fair market rent covers | about $295,000 |
Fair market rent is HUD's 40th-percentile gross rent, including utilities; a property's appraised market rent can be higher or lower. Payment uses 20% down, a 30-year amortization at the published DSCR starting rate, the county's median effective property-tax rate and insurance at 0.50% of value. Purchase leverage goes up to 85% on qualifying files. This is an illustration, not a term sheet or an offer of credit.
Price your actual deal →Run Knox County's numbers in the calculator below →
Who are the DSCR and investment-property lenders in Knox County?
The most active investment-property lenders in Knox County in 2025 HMDA data were Kiavi Funding, Inc.; Peoples Bank of the South; and UNITED SHORE FINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC, out of 195 lenders that reported. HMDA doesn't flag which loans were DSCR loans, so this list mixes DSCR and conventional investment-property lenders. Dominick Prevete places DSCR loans across 100+ lenders, including two that reported in Knox County, and matches each file to the one most likely to fund it.
Knox County's 2025 HMDA filings, closed-end loans on 1–4 unit investment properties only: 1,176 loans and $333.5M from 195 lenders. Kiavi Funding, Inc. led Knox County with 114 loans, 9.7% of the county's total, and the average Knox County loan of $284K compares with $285K across Tennessee.
| Lender | Loans | Volume | Avg loan | Purchase share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kiavi Funding, Inc. | 114 | $27.3M | $240K | 73.7% |
| Peoples Bank of the South | 58 | $13.3M | $229K | 31.0% |
| UNITED SHORE FINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC | 45 | $10.8M | $241K | 51.1% |
| Rocket Mortgage, LLC | 31 | $6.0M | $194K | 35.5% |
| LENDINGONE, LLC | 29 | $6.8M | $235K | 17.2% |
| Citizens Bank | 27 | $8.1M | $299K | 81.5% |
| Y-12 Federal Credit Union | 25 | $6.5M | $260K | 60.0% |
| Mountain Commerce Bank | 24 | $6.6M | $275K | 91.7% |
| THE LOAN STORE, INC. | 23 | $6.5M | $285K | 65.2% |
| First Century Bank | 21 | $5.4M | $255K | 85.7% |
| GUARANTEED RATE, INC. | 21 | $5.3M | $251K | 42.9% |
| MORTGAGE INVESTORS GROUP, INC. | 21 | $5.1M | $242K | 81.0% |
| FirstBank | 18 | $5.4M | $302K | 77.8% |
| MOVEMENT MORTGAGE, LLC | 17 | $4.1M | $243K | 76.5% |
| Builtwell Bank | 17 | $3.0M | $177K | 41.2% |
| ORNL | 16 | $3.2M | $203K | 31.2% |
| EASTMAN CREDIT UNION | 15 | $5.0M | $335K | 86.7% |
| Hometown Equity Mortgage, LLC | 15 | $3.5M | $234K | 33.3% |
| KNOXVILLE TEACHERS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION | 15 | $3.3M | $223K | 6.7% |
| Commercial Bank | 15 | $2.5M | $167K | 66.7% |
| Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation | 14 | $3.1M | $225K | 71.4% |
| Home Federal Bank of Tennessee | 13 | $3.4M | $259K | 76.9% |
| ABL RPC Residential Credit Acquisition LLC | 12 | $5.0M | $418K | 0.0% |
| KIND LENDING, LLC | 12 | $3.3M | $277K | 25.0% |
| CHAMPIONS FUNDING, LLC | 12 | $2.6M | $218K | 33.3% |
451 Tennessee loans (2.8%) carry no county code in HMDA, so county figures sum to less than the state total.
Source for Knox County: 2025 HMDA loan-level data from the CFPB/FFIEC Data Browser, retrieved October 31, 2026. How this data is built · Knox County CSV, all 25 lenders
What Knox County's table can't show you: fit. Short-term financing is exempt from HMDA, so Knox County's fix-and-flip and bridge lenders barely appear among its 195 filers, and none of the 25 names above tells you whose guidelines match your deal, your entity, or your timeline. That's the job. Dominick Prevete structures your file and places it across 100+ lenders — including some on this list — so it lands with the one most likely to fund it.
Price your loan →National Loan Provider is an independent broker and maintains wholesale relationships with some listed lenders. Appearing in this table is not an endorsement or a recommendation.
Run the coverage test on your Knox County, Tennessee deal
Rent divided by the full monthly payment is the number a DSCR loan qualifies on. Enter a Knox County, Tennessee property's rent, loan, taxes and insurance to see where it lands.
Principal and interest on a thirty-year amortization, plus taxes, insurance and HOA.
Enter the rent, loan amount, rate, taxes and insurance to see the coverage ratio.
Sources
- CFPB / FFIEC HMDA Data Browser — Knox County's at-a-glance figures, its observations, its 25-lender table and the Quick Read's 195 lenders and 1,176 loans: 2025 HMDA loan-level data rolled up to Knox County.
- Knox County investor-lender dataset (CSV) — All 25 lenders in the Knox County, Tennessee table, ranked by loan count, with volume, average loan and purchase share for each.
- HUD FY2027 Fair Market Rents — Knox County's 2-, 3- and 4-bedroom fair market rents in the rent math, and the 3-bedroom rent its highest-price figure uses: HUD's FY2027 figures for the Knoxville, TN HUD Metro FMR Area.
- Census ACS 2020–2024 5-year, tables B25077 and B25103 — Knox County's median home value (B25077) and median property taxes paid (B25103) in the rent math, from the Census 2020–2024 ACS 5-year summary files.
- DSCR loan rates, Dominick Prevete — DSCR rental loans start from 7.25%, as of November 2026: the Instant Term Sheet's best-case scenario on the current rate sheets.