Travel Nurse Having Difficult Time Finding Lender

[Ashly Doran]

As you can see from the title, I am a travel nurse who just spoke with a lender and I am feeling so defeated. Right now I am based in Aberdeen, WA and am extremely motivated to purchase my first property, specifically a multi-family. My plan is to buy something somewhere between Aberdeen and Olympia so that I can live in one unit and rent out the other(s) to travel nurses or Airbnb. I am also planning on getting an FHA loan (3.5% down), live in it for 1 year, and then repeat the process over and over again.

But after speaking with a lender, it sounds like I am going to have an incredibly difficult time obtaining a loan. I have been a Travel nurse for 6 months (I know) and was at a staff RN job for 1 year before that. (Before that I was a bartender at the same establishment for 8 years). There HAS to be a way around this. I am totally willing to get creative and figure something out as I don’t want to wait another year and a half to buy.

My question is this: what alternatives do I have? Should I go to a local bank? Should I wait 6 months until I have 1 year as a travel nurse? Should I try for a DSCR or non-QM loan?

If anyone knows of a lender who is willing to work with me (and get creative) and who has also worked with other travel nurses in the past, please point them my way! Feel free to DM me if you don’t want to share their info on the forum.

*I should also mention that I have excellent income, savings, and credit and like I mentioned above, am very motivated to buy and become a real estate investor!*

Thank you in advance

-Ashly

**cross-posted**
***I am really hoping to find a solution. Sorry if you see this post a couple of times***

[Stephanie P.]

Quote from @Ashly Doran:

As you can see from the title, I am a travel nurse who just spoke with a lender and I am feeling so defeated. Right now I am based in Aberdeen, WA and am extremely motivated to purchase my first property, specifically a multi-family. My plan is to buy something somewhere between Aberdeen and Olympia so that I can live in one unit and rent out the other(s) to travel nurses or Airbnb. I am also planning on getting an FHA loan (3.5% down), live in it for 1 year, and then repeat the process over and over again.

But after speaking with a lender, it sounds like I am going to have an incredibly difficult time obtaining a loan. I have been a Travel nurse for 6 months (I know) and was at a staff RN job for 1 year before that. (Before that I was a bartender at the same establishment for 8 years). There HAS to be a way around this. I am totally willing to get creative and figure something out as I don’t want to wait another year and a half to buy.

My question is this: what alternatives do I have? Should I go to a local bank? Should I wait 6 months until I have 1 year as a travel nurse? Should I try for a DSCR or non-QM loan?

If anyone knows of a lender who is willing to work with me (and get creative) and who has also worked with other travel nurses in the past, please point them my way! Feel free to DM me if you don’t want to share their info on the forum.

*I should also mention that I have excellent income, savings, and credit and like I mentioned above, am very motivated to buy and become a real estate investor!*

Thank you in advance

-Ashly

**cross-posted**
***I am really hoping to find a solution. Sorry if you see this post a couple of times***

Hey Ashly

We've done a couple of loans for travel nurses and they work very well for a DSCR loan. Contrary to what many folks have said, you can get a DSCR loan without owning a primary home. You could live with your parents or with family or rent. The one absolute is you cannot live in the property.

Going through your post, you mention FHA. You'll qualify for that next year, but watch how you do your taxes. If you write everything and its mother off, you still may not qualify. If you want to buy now, go DSCR.

PM if you have any additional questions.

All the best

Stephanie