Just to be clear, consider the following scenarios:
1. John currently owns & lives in a house. He has 30% equity in that house. He wants to buy another house to live in & rent out his current house. Does he need to be able to carry the payments on both homes to qualify for the loan ?
2. Mike currently owns & lives in a house. He wants to buy another house to rent out. The house he wants to buy is currently vacant. If Mike has a 30% down payment, does he need to be able to carry the payments on both homes to qualify for the loan ?