How often will lenders check your income?

Question

I'm looking at purchasing a home before I go to school here in a few months. I currently work full time and can definitely afford to buy, but I'll be working much less once I'm actually in school. The thing is, it's not like I won't be making enough money once I'm in college to make the mortgage payments, as I'm a veteran and will be using my GI Bill to attend school. Essentially, I'll be getting paid about $1,300 a month just for attending school as a housing allowance from the military. Unfortunately, these payments don't count as qualifying income in the eyes of a lender. Unless I do a bank statement loan? Anyways, I'm trying to figure out how long of a window I have to buy the house. Do lenders check RIGHT before you close? Is it a month before? Any guestimate would really help me.

Charlie MacPherson · Answer

@Michael Cote  Lenders will check income, debt and credit score when they qualify you and again immediately prior to closing.

The best policy is to be honest with the lender.  If you need a portfolio / bank statement loan and can actually get it, that may be the way you have to go.

Dustin Lauer · Answer

For a house to occupy you'll want to speak with a licensed owner occupied lender or bank in OK.  I really like Bank 7 and some other local banks in OKC.  From what I've seen of my own loans getting refinanced, (albeit some time ago as I have not been too active in OK the last few years) local banks have been quite flexible with their portfolio lending as compared to other regions around the U.S.  My company for example only lends to investors currently and like many other similar lenders in our space we do not have set requirements on individual income.  When we check, it's mostly to confirm returns have been filed and no IRS liens are likely to occur or are active.  Many lenders in our space don't even check.  (Again for investors only).