Self-Employed & Securing Mortgages

Self-Employed & Securing Mortgages

Insurance Agent · AZ · Member since 2013 · 306 posts · 161 votes

Hello BP Community!

I've been reading a lot here, and I know there are some people who are self-employed here; however, I am curious about how funding has worked for those who are self-employed with one or more of the the following "barriers":

  • Highly fluctuating yearly income
  • Limited amount for down (say the 3-10% range)
  • Being in your self-employed field for less than 2 years
  • Fair credit/Credit Issues/Bankruptcies

These are just general questions.I know quite a few self-employed people who make anywhere from 15k to 1m a year, but they all discuss how frustrating it is to (try) to get "traditional" financing when self-employed and applying for mortgages; regardless of credit. The ones with more money have pooled together with one or two others and been able to purchase properties, but those who don't know others with money or willing to risk it on them are finding it difficult to find funding since they are self-employed.

Oddly enough, some of the people I know with a lot of money have the worse credit, and the ones who barely make 15k a year have great credit (not all, but a strange skew of people).

I'm just curious, as I am self-employed, and I know I'm going to have to think creatively when I am ready to purchase my multifamily in a couple of years.

I'm looking forward to the responses!

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Contractor · Valparaiso , IN · Member since 2013 · 604 posts · 327 votes
12y

I don't even attempt to get conventional freddie/fannie mortgages, because my income would never qualify. Not that I don't make money, I do, but why pay taxes on anything more than the tax code says you should. I will never give up a dime of my deductions.

Yet I maintain a near 800 credit score, and I can get financing all day long from banks that do portfolio loans (in house commercial mtg's).

I pay a bit more in interest and I can't take advantage of 30 yr fixed rates. But I refuse more banks offers than you can imagine. Also if you do any volume of buy & hold your going to max the freddie/fannie limit anyhow and be in the same market I am.

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  • Investor · Benton Harbor, MI · Member since 2013 · 257 posts · 140 votes
    12y

    @chanteowens you could aim for seller financing. Have the seller hold some or all of the note to get into the property and chances are the other issues will not factor in. I bought my second property this way. Put 4k down and agreed upon price, rate and duration and none of that stuff ever came up. If you are really ambitious, you can try to get in without anything down, but as with any investment just make sure the property cash flows from day 1. I have seen people become so enamored with the prospect of controlling a property without any down and forgot it has to make money...unless you have a short term exit.

  • Insurance Agent · AZ · Member since 2013 · 306 posts · 161 votes
    12y

    @Marshall Downs Thank you! I've definitely put the seller financing in my "back pocket" for when I am ready to invest. I am not so dense to think that I could get away with not having any funds when purchasing a property, and I think that it's wise to have some available funds for repairs, etc.

    Years ago when my ex-fiancé and I purchased our first home, we got an 80% 1st and a 20% second, and refinanced after a year or so. Back then in '99, they called it a "band-aid" loan, but we still came in at close with money, and had a few thousand for repairs/upgrades, etc...sigh, the good ole' days.

  • Investor · Benton Harbor, MI · Member since 2013 · 257 posts · 140 votes
    12y

    Ahhh, the good old days. I'll drink to that!

  • Jean BolgerPro Member
    Aurora, CO · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    Being self-employed and looking for a loan is painful. You really just have to wait til you have those two years of tax returns in your business before a lender will even look at you. And it probably will help to plan ahead and not be very aggressive about your deductions during that time, because they will average the income of those two years when they figure your debt-to-income ratio.

  • Insurance Agent · AZ · Member since 2013 · 306 posts · 161 votes
    12y

    @Jean Bolger Thanks for the input, and you are right. No writing off everything under the sun! Gotta' show some revenue!

    @Marshall Downs Definitely will tip a martini to the good ole' days =)

  • Contractor · Valparaiso , IN · Member since 2013 · 604 posts · 327 votes
    12y

    I don't even attempt to get conventional freddie/fannie mortgages, because my income would never qualify. Not that I don't make money, I do, but why pay taxes on anything more than the tax code says you should. I will never give up a dime of my deductions.

    Yet I maintain a near 800 credit score, and I can get financing all day long from banks that do portfolio loans (in house commercial mtg's).

    I pay a bit more in interest and I can't take advantage of 30 yr fixed rates. But I refuse more banks offers than you can imagine. Also if you do any volume of buy & hold your going to max the freddie/fannie limit anyhow and be in the same market I am.

  • Residential Loan Officer · Concord, CA · Member since 2013 · 1 post · 0 votes
    12y

    We have a couple of programs geared towards Self Employed borrowers. They aren't low down-payment and do require good credit but it does make it possible for many who have been locked out of this market so far. We calculate income based on cash flow vs. tax returns, or we can also use just the past one year of tax returns to qualify a borrower.

  • Northern, VA · Member since 2013 · 141 posts · 29 votes
    12y
    Jean Bolger is spot on with her info. I just went through this myself. I had 2 year tax returns being self employed but in 2011 it was only for the last 3 months. So averaging the 2 years absolutely destroyed my income. In my case, I am a W-2 employee to my own company with a set salary so it's such BS that they can't count my current year W-2 income but they can for employees of my company. Ridiculous! I did actually point out to the loan officer (lol) that according to Fannie guidelines they can accept current year earnings as long as you can show an audited profit and loss showing the good numbers they want to see. Unfortunately that didn't actually help in my situation because my CPA charged about $5k for that. Ridiculous again! But yes - after the new year, I'll do my taxes and have a full 2 years and I should be good to go for my first few properties. Then I'll probably turn to portfolio after that if needed.
  • Insurance Agent · AZ · Member since 2013 · 306 posts · 161 votes
    12y

    @Curtis N. One of my realtor friends said the easiest way for anyone self-employed to purchase a property is to pay cash. I said, "No kidding!"

  • Northern, VA · Member since 2013 · 141 posts · 29 votes
    12y

    @Chanté Owens yea if it were only that simple!

  • Northern, VA · Member since 2013 · 141 posts · 29 votes
    12y

    Chante - you may want to change your name to not have the special character in it, because it seems to break the mention tool.

    Or tell @Joshua D. to fix it.

  • Insurance Agent · AZ · Member since 2013 · 306 posts · 161 votes
    12y

    @Curtis N. That's funny you mention that, because I was thinking that too, but interestingly enough, I still get the email alerts when people @ my name; even with the crazy characters. Figure that one out????

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