Is This A Good Financing Offer?

[Art Maydan]

I’m looking for a multi-unit to house hack in Chicago and just got pre-qualified. My situation is that I know I can afford payments on a lot more than they’ll give me because my wife is starting a job in a few months, but she can’t be on the mortgage off of just an offer letter. And they won’t put my bonuses or overtime as income, which is a good portion of my income. We’re also extremely frugal currently. So we’re trying to get a pre-approval for as high an amount as we can. The lender I’m working with told us $220,000 for a 2-unit, $280,000 for a 3-unit, and $315,000 for a 4-unit.

My credit is ~740, income is really ~$37K, but they used $30K. The rents they’re factoring in is $1,000/unit. I have no debt and ~$16K liquid and increasing ~$1,600/month.

Should I shop for a higher amount or does this sound right?