Why doesn't Zillow, my agent or my lender show what the rent does?
Each one handles one piece. The search site shows price, not cost after rent. Most agents work mainly on single houses. The lender works out the rent after you have picked a home. Series puts the pieces together before you choose.
WHAT MOST PEOPLE ARE NEVER TOLD
The loan rules are public. So what the rent does to your monthly cost, and to the income a lender counts, can be estimated before you choose a home.
Agents who mostly sell houses rarely have to work rent into the numbers. About 1.4 percent of 2025 home purchase loans were for a two-to-four unit home the buyer lives in. Commercial brokers mostly work on buildings with five or more units.
The rent a lender counts comes from the lease or an appraiser's estimate, and the appraisal usually comes after you have signed a contract.
So the usual order is search, fall for a place, then learn what the loan allows. Series was built to reverse that. It screens each listing against the basic loan rules first, then shows it.
GOOD TO KNOW
A loan on a house with an ADU or a duplex covers a home and a small rental at once, and most loan officers rarely handle one. Send the listing before you choose.
Yours is a little different. They all are.
Tell us what you are looking at and what you are trying to do. We answer with the numbers on your situation.
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WHERE THIS COMES FROM
- Series Homes analysis of 2025 HMDA data, home purchase loans, all loan types. Denial rate: denied divided by originated, approved-not-accepted and denied. Share of loans: of loans originated (FFIEC/CFPB HMDA Data Browser)
- HUD Handbook 4000.1 (FHA), Rental Income, section II.A.4.c.xii(I) (pages 240 to 241, revised 8/12/2026)
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.8-02, Rental Income from the Subject Property (09/02/2026)
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-02, Subject and Contract Sections of the Appraisal Report (06/04/2025)
Researched and written by Series Homes. Checked against its sources on . Lending rules change. This page is general information, not a loan offer or legal or tax advice.