selfemployed: Is a Bank Statement Mortgage Right for You?
- 03/15/23 08:29 AM
Is a Bank Statement Mortgage Right for You?
Let's face it, it can be VERY difficult for the self-employed to get some shelter when seeking the best mortgage. Why? Because they face a tough choice every year around tax time:
File the maximum allowable deductions and reduce taxable income as much as possible in order to pay less in taxes.
File with fewer deductions, maximize income and appear strongest in the eyes of a potential mortgage lender.
In reality, balancing these two is nearly impossible for most business owners and the lending industry recognizes that. In response, the self-employed can sometimes use a bank statement … (2 comments)
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selfemployed: How to Rock Getting a Mortgage If You're Self-Employed!!!
- 03/02/23 07:55 AM
How to Rock Getting a Mortgage If You're Self-Employed!!!
Seriously! Is there anybody who still thinks the self-employed have it easy? You know, like the song says, "they see you havin' fun just a-lyin' in the sun?" Those of us who are self-employed or work with the self-employed know otherwise, and you could argue that owners of businesses, large and small, spend as much or more of their time taking care of business than those getting a paycheck from someone else. None of this 'work from home in my pajamas' stuff for the majority --- that's for sure.
So why does the mortgage … (5 comments)
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selfemployed: How to Rock Cannabis Income on a Mortgage Application
- 04/05/22 09:12 PM
How to Rock Cannabis Income on a Mortgage Application
Fifty years ago, when the Doobie Brothers were flying high and the folks in China Grove were rising for another day, it would have been hard to imagine that marijuana would eventually be legal in some states. But, not legal in all states and not legal at the Federal level and that means those who work in the marijuana and cannabis industries can see their mortgage opportunities go up in smoke if not aligned with a lender who knows which programs and investors can navigate this relatively new industry.
So let's take it to … (8 comments)
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selfemployed: What Is an Alternative Mortgage?
- 02/03/20 08:24 AM
What Is an Alternative Mortgage?
Every so often in popular music, movies, art and culture, the unconventional becomes the rage, the "alternative" becomes mainstream. When it does, it usually reshapes people's ideas of what's "normal" and it can redefine what's acceptable --- even preferred --- for a generation or more. But...mortgage lending is not quite that exciting.
No, instead, alternative mortgage lending, also known as "non-QM" or "uncoventional mortgage" or even yesteryear's "Alt-A," simply provides a viable solution to home loan scenarios that don't quite fit in the relatively narrow box of convenional mortgages. Conventional loans include mainstream conforming loans, FHA and VA … (19 comments)
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selfemployed: Howdy, Partner! How's the Income Look on Your Mortgage Application?
- 01/18/20 05:31 AM
Howdy, Partner! How's the Income Look on Your Mortgage Application?
I don't care how successful your S-Corporation or partnership may be. When you go to get a home loan, there will be a new sheriff in town --- your mortgage lender. So before your loan process gets hung up at high noon, I thought I'd let you in on a secret about how most lenders will qualify your income. Let's go, amigo. We're burnin' daylight.
Check Yourself
Most of what we focus on below will pertain to the self-employed partner or owner in an S-corp. The widely-accepted definition of 'self-employed' is greater than a 25% … (12 comments)
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selfemployed: The Yin and Yang of Mortgages for Business Owners
- 12/03/19 06:17 AM
The Yin and Yang of Mortgages for Business Owners
It is no secret that the self-employed have their share of challenges when it comes to getting a home loan. And why wouldn't they? On one hand, their tax professionals spend hours maximizing their deductions and helping them "write off" every allowable expense and on the other hand, their mortgage loan advisor tells them they have to show more income in order to qualify.
But can these seemingly opposite or contrary objectives actually be complementary, interconnected and interdependent and come together to allow a business owner to get a great mortgage? Is there a yin and yang relationship somewhere in this … (0 comments)
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selfemployed: Jumbo Mortgage for the Self-Employed
- 02/10/19 06:09 PM
Jumbo Mortgage for the Self-Employed
One thing of which our industry does a terrible job is promoting a sense of optimism among the self-employed. Whether the one-man-band sole proprietor, or the complex, greater-than-25% owner of a multi-million dollar S-Corp, this long-suffering subset of the borrowing population has traditionally experienced stiff headwind in the mortgage process because the objectives of running one's own business frequently fly in the face of what it takes to qualify for a jumbo mortgage. There are a combination of reasons why this has been the case and we're going to look at those here, along with what the self-employed … (5 comments)
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selfemployed: No Tax Returns, No Cry
- 07/22/18 12:20 PM
No Tax Returns, No Cry
While it never rivaled in popularity its sister reggae tune of genre-defining, historic significance, let's dust off this platter and give it a spin. Because let's face it, in the fully-documented world of today's mortgage qualifications it would seem that if you're self-employed, or if you're a real estate agent who gets a 1099, you pretty much have to shoot the sheriff if you want to get a decent loan but don't have two, strong years of tax returns. No more.
Our bank statement program may allow you to qualify with just 12 months of business bank statements. … (6 comments)
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selfemployed: Taking or Shoving a Job? Call Me First
- 07/11/17 07:01 AM
Taking or Shoving a Job? Call Me First
The "me" in this title is figurative, of course, and the concept we're going to cover is broad in scope. And no, I really don't want to hear about your new job and its benefits; the free hot yoga classes and unlimited fair trade organic tea and gluten-free snack bar. But the concept I do wish to cover has relevance in many other areas of our lives and, hopefully, what I'm about to say will help a homeowner or home buyer save an otherwise strong mortgage application from an unsuspecting, unexpected and undesired demise somewhere down … (4 comments)
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selfemployed: The Silent Assassin - Unreimbursed (2106) Business Expenses
- 05/10/17 06:11 AM
The Silent Assassin - Unreimbursed (2106) Business Expenses
Death and taxes, right? Of these two certainties in life, let's leave our mortality out of the discussion for now. That leaves us with taxes and unless you're the president, at some point you must come face to face with the reality of your tax returns. I think we can universally agree that we are always striving to minimize the taxes we pay. This tends to work well, year after year, UNTIL we go to get a home loan. Because, you see, reducing your taxable income and maximizing your expenses and deductions for Uncle Sam … (2 comments)
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selfemployed: Your Mortgage on Steroids
- 04/03/17 07:35 AM
Your Mortgage on Steroids
If you are self-employed and attempt to get a mortgage, you know it's tough to get a fair shake. It seems like lenders never give the self employed the benefit of the doubt. But what if you could have just ONE great year, instead of two, and then qualify for the loan you need?
With baseball season upon us, I thought it would be fun to look back to the illustrious "steroid era" of the late 1990's and early 2000's to show us exactly how we can "juice" your application and take advantage of some of the totally legal programs … (0 comments)
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selfemployed: If It Was Easy...
- 01/04/17 05:44 AM
If It Was Easy...
As 2016 drew to a close, two seemingly unrelated events came together for me in the form of an unexpected realization. First, I did a careful review of my past year's production in order to measure progress, spot trends and recognize where improvement needs to be made. Second, I caught the broadcast of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship on TV.
So let's start with a little background on the more interesting of the two. Sometime back in the late '80's, I must have been watching TV with my dad on a lazy weekend afternoon … (19 comments)
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selfemployed: The Homebuyer's Guide to the Fully Documented Income Universe
- 04/29/15 10:30 AM
The Homebuyer's Guide to the Fully Documented Income Universe
It's hard to believe sometimes, but I've been in the mortgage business for nearly fifteen years. So please give me the benefit of the doubt when I tell you that not a day goes by when I don't hear a client or prospect utter something to the effect of, "Oh, but I don't remember having to provide all this information the last time!"
"Last time" is not hearkening back to, of course, some bygone paleolithic era of home lending. Remember, I measured my tenure in years, not millennia. In this case, I might only be … (0 comments)
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selfemployed: How Will 2014 Go Down in YOUR Books?
- 12/30/14 11:10 PM
How Will 2014 Go Down in YOUR Books?
When we come to the end of any calendar year, isn't it amazing to look back over the last 12 months and realize just how much has transpired? Sometimes, events that occurred in, say, March, feel like they happened a lifetime ago. Could it really be that it was this year? Yes, time flies.
And, of course, the resolution season is upon us. What changes might we affect in 2015 by way of reinvigorated will? A blank page opens before us each January 1, but will we have the resolve to write a new … (4 comments)
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selfemployed: Exposed: The Real Truth Behind Bernanke's Refi Bust
- 10/14/14 09:43 PM
Exposed: The Real Truth Behind Bernanke's Refi Bust
Anyone who's been reading my blog posts for any length of time would know that I don't need a particularly good excuse to lament about the oppressive regulatory quagmire that has ensnared residential mortgage lending. These same folks would know how much I savor the opportunity to throw Barney "The Dinosaur" Frank and Chris "Countrywide" Dodd under the bus too. So when it comes to the recent story that broke about former Federeal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, and his inability to refinance his own mortgage, well, you would think I'd be first in … (3 comments)
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selfemployed: Who's the Expert Now? Investment Property Financing Made Simple
- 05/19/14 08:42 AM
Who's the Expert Now? Investment Property Financing Made Simple
Expert Beacon reached out to me some time ago about writing an article about determing how much one can afford when buying a home. I was happy to give them a try and we followed up with a second piece on how to get a home loan when self-employed. I think both topics come up frequently for the homebuying public. I recently just finished my third subject for them, "How to Successfully Get a Mortgage for Your Investment Property." It is embedded below:
I believe Expert Beacon is … (2 comments)
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selfemployed: Non(QM)sense!
- 03/24/14 09:15 AM
Non(QM)sense!
Going into the January 10, 2014 inception date of the Qualified Mortgage, or QM, we in the mortgage industry faced a nonstop barrage of concern about whether or not our lending capacity would stay the course or steadily devolve into nonexistence.
This turns out to be a nonissue here at RPM because we've just rolled out a suite of jumbo loan programs (and to say "jumbo" is nonfactual because the lower limit can be as little as $250K) that address the varied borrowing needs of those for whom mortgage credit has been nonaccessible over the last 5 or 6 years.
All … (2 comments)
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selfemployed: "Can I Use My 2013 Tax Return to Qualify for a Mortgage?"
- 02/24/14 10:02 AM
"Can I Use My 2013 Tax Return to Qualify for a Mortgage?"
Q: I'm self-employed. Can I use the income I will show on my 2013 tax return to qualify for a mortgage? I have not yet filed, but am about to do so...
Like most other things in the lending industry, the answer is not entirely simple and is cloaked in a bit of mystery. But let's review the basics before we jump into the "need to knows." As they say, "timing is everything," and indeed we find ourselves at the time of year when most are in … (0 comments)
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selfemployed: Can I Get a Mortgage if I'm Self Employed?
- 08/26/11 03:01 PM
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Is a Bank Statement Mortgage Right for You?
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