About Investor Loans Wisconsin
We are the investor-lending arm of Mike Certo's team at Cornerstone First Mortgage: a direct lender, licensed in all 50 states, with 23 years of residential lending behind the desk.
Who we are
Investor Loans Wisconsin is run by Mike Certo, Branch Manager at Cornerstone First Mortgage (NMLS #173855), and the team around him. Mike has originated residential mortgages for 23 years, through two rate cycles, one housing crash, and every flavor of investor market in between. He holds NMLS #260555, and Cornerstone lends as a direct lender in all 50 states and DC.
Wisconsin is the state where we say no most often, and we think that is the most useful thing about this site. Seven Wisconsin metros run gross yields between 3.9% and 5.4%, and a DSCR loan against those numbers does not work. Telling a Green Bay or Appleton buyer that at the first phone call, rather than after an appraisal, is worth more than any rate sheet.
The flip side is that Wisconsin has the best landlord statute in the country and almost nobody searching for a Wisconsin investment loan knows it. Your city cannot restrict how you screen a tenant. It cannot add deposit or inspection requirements beyond the state rules. It cannot charge you more than $75 to $150 to inspect a rental, cannot inspect a building under 8 years old under a program at all, and owes you a 5-year pause after a clean inspection. It cannot regulate your rent, and it cannot ban your short-term rental of 7 days or longer. That package, against a Milwaukee two-flat at a 7.6% gross yield, is a genuinely good long-term position.
How we work
- Real numbers, no salesy script. We pull the parcel's assessment and the municipal mill rate, confirm the assessment class, run the real PITIA against realistic rent, and tell you when a deal does not pencil.
- We publish the bad news first. The homepage of this site opens with the seven Wisconsin metros that do not clear a ratio. That is deliberate.
- Verified facts, dated. Every figure here traces to a primary source with a verification date: the certified 2023-24 Wisconsin Statutes as updated through 2025 Wis. Act 247, and the Department of Revenue's Property Tax Overview of October 31, 2025.
- Current law, checked rather than assumed. The statutory text we quote carries the Legislative Reference Bureau certification line, and the short-term-rental section carries its 2025 Court of Appeals annotations.
- Direct lender. Underwriting, docs and funding under one roof.
What we lend
DSCR purchases and refinances, investor cash-out, short-term-rental financing, bank statement loans for the self-employed, foreign-national programs, and conventional investor loans, across all of Wisconsin. Start with the programs page, the DSCR guide, or just send us the deal.
Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content, not a loan commitment and not legal or tax advice. Wisconsin statutes, assessment classifications, municipal licensing and short-term-rental ordinances change; confirm current requirements with the municipal clerk, the assessor, your CPA, or a Wisconsin real estate attorney before you buy. Loans are subject to buyer and property qualification.