Investment property loans in Houston

What a non-owner-occupied loan is

A non-owner-occupied property is one the borrower does not live in: a house bought to renovate and sell, a rental leased by the year, a duplex, or a lot where a house will be built. Lenders treat these as business-purpose loans, and the rules differ from the mortgage on a primary residence.

Houston Fix and Flip Loans lends only on non-owner-occupied property. We are the Houston division of Optimus Capital Corp, a nationwide lender that works only with real estate investors, and the division is run by Andrew Shanti, who has worked in lending and real estate since 2005 as a principal, executive and investor.

How to choose a lender for a Houston investment property

The right lender depends on what you plan to do with the property. Three kinds of lender finance investment real estate, and each one approves the loan on something different.

Questions to ask before you pick a lender

Houston deals have their own costs and risks. These questions sort out quickly who can close your deal.

• Will you fund the whole renovation? We finance up to 100% of the rehab budget at a 720+ score, paid in draws as work is finished.
• Do you underwrite property tax correctly? Texas has no state income tax, so local governments rely on property tax. Combined rates in Harris County are often 2% to 2.5% of value, and in suburbs served by a municipal utility district (MUD) they can reach 3% or more. Investment property gets no homestead exemption. For the 2024 to 2026 tax years, the taxable value of non-homestead property worth $5 million or less can rise no more than 20% a year, but the limit resets when the property is sold, so a new buyer is taxed on full market value.
• Do you account for flood risk? Flooding is the defining risk in Houston. Since 2018, new homes and substantially improved homes inside the city’s 100-year and 500-year floodplains must be built 2 feet above the 500-year flood elevation, and many houses that flooded in Hurricane Harvey or earlier storms carry a history buyers and insurers will ask about. Texas sellers must disclose flood history, and landlords must tell tenants whether a rental is in a 100-year floodplain and whether it has flooded in the past five years. Check the flood maps, the elevation and the flood history before you make an offer.
• Do you account for foundations and insurance? The Gulf Coast clay under much of Houston swells when wet and shrinks when dry, so foundation movement is common in older slab and pier-and-beam houses. Get a foundation inspection or an engineer’s report before you set the rehab budget. Hurricane wind, hail and flood drive insurance costs across the Houston area, and flood insurance is a separate policy. In coastal areas such as Galveston and parts of southeast Harris County, wind coverage often comes from the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, which requires inspected work. Get insurance quotes, including flood, before you make an offer.
• Do you understand the rental rules? Houston has no zoning, so short-term rentals are not banned by neighborhood, but since January 1, 2026 every short-term rental in the city must hold a city registration, renewed each year for $275, and pay state and city hotel occupancy tax, with fines of up to $500 a day for violations. Many subdivisions and master-planned communities restrict short stays in their deed restrictions, and suburbs such as Sugar Land, Katy and League City have their own rules. We underwrite on long-term rent unless the address can legally host short stays and the numbers work without them.
• Will you check my personal income? We do not. There are no tax returns and no employment or debt-to-income review.
• Can I close in an LLC, and from out of state? Yes. We lend to LLCs and to out-of-state owners, and to foreign nationals on rental loans.
• How fast can you close? Rental loans take about 30 days, appraisal included. Fix and flip loans average up to 21 days and can close in about 7 days once title and insurance are ready.

What we finance in Greater Houston

• Fix and flip loans: up to 90% of the purchase price and 100% of the rehab at a 720+ credit score.
• DSCR rental loans for single-family rentals, duplexes and townhomes: up to 85% loan-to-value to buy and 80% on a cash-out refinance, fixed for 5 to 30 years.
• Ground-up construction loans: up to 90% of cost for experienced builders, with the lot included.
• Mid-rehab, portfolio and commercial loans for projects that need capital to finish, groups of rentals, and multifamily or commercial property.

For neighborhood notes and local rules, see Houston, Katy and our other market pages.