DSCR Loans in Merced County, California
Reviewed by Dominick Prevete, Founder & CEO, National Loan Provider31+ years in real estate finance
LinkedIn35 closed transactionsNLPI LLC, NJ entity ID 0451062247 (verify on the NJ business search)
In 2025 HMDA data, 101 lenders made 354 investment-property loans in Merced County, 0.7% of California's total. Dominick Prevete arranges DSCR loans across Merced County, California, 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 $320,000.
Merced County investor market at a glance
| Statistic | Merced County | California | County rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investor loans | 354 | 54,410 | 24th of 39 |
| Reporting lenders | 101 | 630 | 24th of 39 |
| Loan volume | $101.7M | $37.12B | 28th of 39 |
| Average loan | $287K | $682K | 31st of 39 |
| Median loan | $295K | $485K | 29th of 39 |
| Purchases | 60.5% | 51.1% | 4th of 39 |
| Cash-out refinances | 23.7% | 25.6% | 23rd of 39 |
| 2–4 unit properties | 12.7% | 16.6% | 24th of 39 |
| Top five lenders' share | 32.8% | 23.2% | 17th of 39 |
| Reported business-purpose | 69.2% | 71.2% | 24th of 39 |
Merced County: closed-end loans on 1–4 unit investment properties. Merced County's rank is highest first, among California's counties with at least 100 investor loans and 25 reporting lenders. Shares are of Merced County's investor loans.
What stands out in Merced County
60.5% of Merced County's investor loans were purchases, the 4th-highest share of California's 39 counties with published data (statewide: 51.1%).
Most investor loans here are purchases. A DSCR purchase qualifies on the property's rent, so you can get written terms before you make an offer with the Instant Term Sheet.
The average investor loan in Merced County was $287K, the 9th-lowest average of California's 39 counties with published data (statewide: $682K).
Loans here run small. DSCR loans Dominick arranges start at $75,000.
Does a DSCR loan pencil in Merced County?
At HUD's fair market rent of $2,087 for a 3-bedroom in Merced County, California, a rental covers its full DSCR payment up to a purchase price of about $320,000, with 20% down at the 7.25% starting rate (November 2026). Merced County's median home value is $391,800; at that price the payment is $2,521 a month, so the property would need $2,525 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) | $1,517 / $2,087 / $2,477 |
|---|---|
| Median home value (2020–2024 ACS 5-year) | $391,800 |
| Median property taxes and effective rate | $2,634 (0.67% of value) |
| Monthly payment on the median-value home: P&I, taxes, insurance | $2,521 |
| Rent needed to cover that payment | $2,525 |
| Coverage of a 3-bedroom at fair market rent | 0.83 |
| Highest price a 3-bedroom at fair market rent covers | about $320,000 |
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 Merced County's numbers in the calculator below →
Who are the DSCR and investment-property lenders in Merced County?
The most active investment-property lenders in Merced County in 2025 HMDA data were UNITED SHORE FINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC; DHI MORTGAGE COMPANY, LTD.; and INSPIRE HOME LOANS INC., out of 101 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 Merced County, and matches each file to the one most likely to fund it.
Merced County's 2025 HMDA filings, closed-end loans on 1–4 unit investment properties only: 354 loans and $101.7M from 101 lenders. UNITED SHORE FINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC led Merced County with 29 loans, 8.2% of the county's total, and the average Merced County loan of $287K compares with $682K across California.
| Lender | Loans | Volume | Avg loan | Purchase share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNITED SHORE FINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC | 29 | $7.7M | $266K | 55.2% |
| DHI MORTGAGE COMPANY, LTD. | 26 | $7.8M | $302K | 100.0% |
| INSPIRE HOME LOANS INC. | 22 | $7.4M | $336K | 100.0% |
| Kiavi Funding, Inc. | 22 | $6.5M | $294K | 90.9% |
| NEXERA HOLDING LLC | 17 | $4.7M | $277K | 58.8% |
| OCMBC, INC. | 15 | $4.1M | $276K | 53.3% |
| PENNYMAC LOAN SERVICES, LLC | 12 | $3.9M | $323K | 58.3% |
| THE LOAN STORE, INC. | 12 | $3.8M | $318K | 58.3% |
| KIND LENDING, LLC | 12 | $3.3M | $278K | 50.0% |
| Rocket Mortgage, LLC | 10 | $2.5M | $251K | 40.0% |
| MORTGAGEONE, INC. | 8 | $2.3M | $283K | 37.5% |
| U.S. Bank National Association | 8 | $2.2M | $274K | 50.0% |
| LEADERONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION | 8 | $2.1M | $263K | 62.5% |
| PNC Bank, National Association | 6 | $1.8M | $292K | 66.7% |
| CONVENTUS LLC | 6 | $1.5M | $250K | 50.0% |
| FlexPoint, Inc. | 5 | $1.7M | $335K | 40.0% |
| Hometown Equity Mortgage, LLC | 4 | $1.2M | $310K | 25.0% |
| CROSSCOUNTRY MORTGAGE, INC. | 4 | $1.2M | $300K | 75.0% |
| AMERICAN PACIFIC MORTGAGE CORPORATION | 4 | $1.1M | $273K | 50.0% |
| Bank of America, National Association | 3 | $1.2M | $392K | 100.0% |
| CHAMPIONS FUNDING, LLC | 3 | $1.0M | $332K | 33.3% |
| AMWEST FUNDING CORP. | 3 | $0.9M | $312K | 33.3% |
| JMAC LENDING, INC. | 3 | $0.9M | $298K | 66.7% |
| Paramount Residential Mortgage Group, Inc. | 3 | $0.8M | $275K | 0.0% |
| LANTZMAN MANAGEMENT, INC. | 3 | $0.8M | $252K | 0.0% |
1,726 California loans (3.2%) carry no county code in HMDA, so county figures sum to less than the state total.
Source for Merced County: 2025 HMDA loan-level data from the CFPB/FFIEC Data Browser, retrieved October 31, 2026. How this data is built · Merced County CSV, all 25 lenders
What Merced County's table can't show you: fit. Short-term financing is exempt from HMDA, so Merced County's fix-and-flip and bridge lenders barely appear among its 101 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 Merced County, California deal
Rent divided by the full monthly payment is the number a DSCR loan qualifies on. Enter a Merced County, California 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 — Merced County's at-a-glance figures, its observations, its 25-lender table and the Quick Read's 101 lenders and 354 loans: 2025 HMDA loan-level data rolled up to Merced County.
- Merced County investor-lender dataset (CSV) — All 25 lenders in the Merced County, California table, ranked by loan count, with volume, average loan and purchase share for each.
- HUD FY2027 Fair Market Rents — Merced 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 Merced, CA MSA.
- Census ACS 2020–2024 5-year, tables B25077 and B25103 — Merced 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.