Notwithstanding what others have said here - I think it depends on the market and the lender. When I looked to add a second property, the lender refused to con

Notwithstanding what others have said here - I think it depends on the market and the lender. When I looked to add a second property, the lender refused to consider the rent being earned from the first property, saying "Your tenant could move out at any moment, so we don't include that as part of a borrower's income in making our decision." What I suspect happens is that once you reach some number of properties, you become a commercial borrower, and different rules apply. A former coworker owned most of a street of duplexes at one time, and he had no problems getting loans.