DSCR Loans in Santa Cruz County, California
Reviewed by Dominick Prevete, Founder & CEO, National Loan Provider31+ years in real estate finance
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In 2025 HMDA data, 93 lenders made 296 investment-property loans in Santa Cruz County, 0.5% of California's total. Dominick Prevete arranges DSCR loans across Santa Cruz 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 $860,000.
Santa Cruz County investor market at a glance
| Statistic | Santa Cruz County | California | County rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investor loans | 296 | 54,410 | 26th of 39 |
| Reporting lenders | 93 | 630 | 26th of 39 |
| Loan volume | $695.9M | $37.12B | 12th of 39 |
| Average loan | $2,351K | $682K | 1st of 39 |
| Median loan | $565K | $485K | 9th of 39 |
| Purchases | 45.6% | 51.1% | 33rd of 39 |
| Cash-out refinances | 26.4% | 25.6% | 16th of 39 |
| 2–4 unit properties | 21.3% | 16.6% | 7th of 39 |
| Top five lenders' share | 24.7% | 23.2% | 33rd of 39 |
| Reported business-purpose | 65.2% | 71.2% | 31st of 39 |
Santa Cruz County: closed-end loans on 1–4 unit investment properties. Santa Cruz County's rank is highest first, among California's counties with at least 100 investor loans and 25 reporting lenders. Shares are of Santa Cruz County's investor loans.
What stands out in Santa Cruz County
The average investor loan in Santa Cruz County was $2,351K, the highest average of California's 39 counties with published data (statewide: $682K).
Loans here run large. Dominick arranges DSCR loans from $75,000 up through jumbo balances.
45.6% of Santa Cruz County's investor loans were purchases, the 7th-lowest share of California's 39 counties with published data (statewide: 51.1%).
Most investor loans here refinance property investors already own. A DSCR refinance qualifies on the property's current rent.
21.3% of Santa Cruz County's investor loans financed a 2–4 unit property, the 7th-highest share of California's 39 counties with published data (statewide: 16.6%).
2–4 unit properties are a larger share here than in most of California. A DSCR loan on a 2–4 unit property qualifies on the rent from all of its units.
Does a DSCR loan pencil in Santa Cruz County?
At HUD's fair market rent of $5,531 for a 3-bedroom in Santa Cruz County, California, a rental covers its full DSCR payment up to a purchase price of about $860,000, with 20% down at the 7.25% starting rate (November 2026). Santa Cruz County's median home value is $1,027,500; at that price the payment is $6,580 a month, so the property would need $6,600 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) | $4,254 / $5,531 / $5,748 |
|---|---|
| Median home value (2020–2024 ACS 5-year) | $1,027,500 |
| Median property taxes and effective rate | $6,538 (0.64% of value) |
| Monthly payment on the median-value home: P&I, taxes, insurance | $6,580 |
| Rent needed to cover that payment | $6,600 |
| Coverage of a 3-bedroom at fair market rent | 0.84 |
| Highest price a 3-bedroom at fair market rent covers | about $860,000 |
| Highest price two 2-bedroom units at fair market rent cover | about $1,325,000 |
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 Santa Cruz County's numbers in the calculator below →
Who are the DSCR and investment-property lenders in Santa Cruz County?
The most active investment-property lenders in Santa Cruz County in 2025 HMDA data were CROSSCOUNTRY MORTGAGE, INC.; UNITED SHORE FINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC; and Rocket Mortgage, LLC, out of 93 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 one that reported in Santa Cruz County, and matches each file to the one most likely to fund it.
Santa Cruz County's 2025 HMDA filings, closed-end loans on 1–4 unit investment properties only: 296 loans and $695.9M from 93 lenders. CROSSCOUNTRY MORTGAGE, INC. led Santa Cruz County with 28 loans, 9.5% of the county's total, and the average Santa Cruz County loan of $2351K compares with $682K across California.
| Lender | Loans | Volume | Avg loan | Purchase share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CROSSCOUNTRY MORTGAGE, INC. | 28 | $22.9M | $820K | 67.9% |
| UNITED SHORE FINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC | 17 | $8.9M | $526K | 17.6% |
| Rocket Mortgage, LLC | 11 | $5.4M | $490K | 27.3% |
| MACKILLIE INCORPORATED | 9 | $516.8M | $57424K | 44.4% |
| U.S. Bank National Association | 8 | $4.2M | $520K | 25.0% |
| GUARANTEED RATE, INC. | 8 | $4.0M | $498K | 50.0% |
| Paramount Residential Mortgage Group, Inc. | 8 | $3.0M | $370K | 37.5% |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | 7 | $4.4M | $632K | 85.7% |
| ML Mortgage Corp. | 7 | $3.5M | $501K | 28.6% |
| OCMBC, INC. | 7 | $2.5M | $359K | 28.6% |
| Kiavi Funding, Inc. | 6 | $5.0M | $837K | 83.3% |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | 6 | $5.0M | $827K | 66.7% |
| Cornerstone First Mortgage, Inc | 6 | $4.8M | $800K | 16.7% |
| MASON MCDUFFIE MORTGAGE CORPORATION | 6 | $3.9M | $653K | 66.7% |
| DEEPHAVEN MORTGAGE LLC | 6 | $3.6M | $598K | 33.3% |
| FlexPoint, Inc. | 6 | $3.0M | $508K | 50.0% |
| THE LOAN STORE, INC. | 6 | $2.7M | $453K | 50.0% |
| BAY | 6 | $2.5M | $417K | 50.0% |
| PREMIER MORTGAGE RESOURCES, L.L.C. | 5 | $2.0M | $393K | 40.0% |
| BPL MORTGAGE TRUST, LLC | 5 | $1.9M | $387K | 100.0% |
| Bank of America, National Association | 4 | $3.7M | $925K | 50.0% |
| FRANKLIN LOAN CORPORATION | 4 | $3.7M | $923K | 50.0% |
| VISTA POINT MORTGAGE, LLC | 4 | $3.5M | $878K | 25.0% |
| KIND LENDING, LLC | 4 | $2.8M | $700K | 25.0% |
| NEWREZ LLC | 4 | $2.6M | $640K | 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 Santa Cruz County: 2025 HMDA loan-level data from the CFPB/FFIEC Data Browser, retrieved October 31, 2026. How this data is built · Santa Cruz County CSV, all 25 lenders
What Santa Cruz County's table can't show you: fit. Short-term financing is exempt from HMDA, so Santa Cruz County's fix-and-flip and bridge lenders barely appear among its 93 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 Santa Cruz County, California deal
Rent divided by the full monthly payment is the number a DSCR loan qualifies on. Enter a Santa Cruz 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 — Santa Cruz County's at-a-glance figures, its observations, its 25-lender table and the Quick Read's 93 lenders and 296 loans: 2025 HMDA loan-level data rolled up to Santa Cruz County.
- Santa Cruz County investor-lender dataset (CSV) — All 25 lenders in the Santa Cruz County, California table, ranked by loan count, with volume, average loan and purchase share for each.
- HUD FY2027 Fair Market Rents — Santa Cruz 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 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA MSA.
- Census ACS 2020–2024 5-year, tables B25077 and B25103 — Santa Cruz 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.