How much cash does it take to buy my fourplex?
It depends on the buyer's loan. An investor's loan is sized by the rent your fourplex earns, and whatever the rent cannot carry the investor pays in cash. A buyer who will live in one unit borrows on their own income and needs far less cash. You can see both figures before you list.
WHAT MOST PEOPLE ARE NEVER TOLD
On a fourplex the rent matters to both buyers. FHA, a common loan for buyers who will live there, tests a three or four unit home against its own rent, much as an investor's lender does.
The cash an investor needs moves with your rents and with borrowing costs. The cash a buyer who will live there needs moves mostly with the loan they use.
On three and four units, FHA adds a test. Take the appraiser's rent estimate for every unit, including the buyer's own. Subtract at least a quarter for vacancy and upkeep. What is left must cover the full monthly payment. If it falls short, the FHA loan has to be smaller or does not fit. Fannie Mae's rules have no such test.
Every financed buyer also needs the appraisal. On a Fannie Mae loan for a two-to-four unit home, the appraiser must consider the rent, but the value cannot rest on rent alone. It also rests on what similar properties sold for. Few of those sell each year, so the appraiser has less to compare.
GOOD TO KNOW
Before you set a price, find out which loan your likely buyer will use, because FHA tests a fourplex against its rent and Fannie Mae does not. The cash each buyer needs moves with interest rates, so run it at today's.
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
- HUD Handbook 4000.1 (FHA), section II.A.1.b.iv(B)(3)(c), Self-Sufficiency Rental Income Eligibility (page 171, 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 B3-3.8-01, General Rental Income Information (09/02/2026)
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-10, Cost and Income Approach to Value (06/04/2025)
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-07, Sales Comparison Approach Section of the Appraisal Report (06/04/2025)
- Series Homes count of 2025 HMDA data: applications for a loan to buy a four-unit property, from borrowers who will live there and from investors. Denied, divided by originated plus approved but not accepted plus denied (FFIEC HMDA Data Browser)
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.