Self Employed/ RE Investor Income planning Tips

Some of the most difficult files can be self employed, real estate investors, and business owners. The mountains of tax returns and data if misinterpreted can cause a delay or even a decline in your file.

The challenges:

- complex tax strategies

- lots of paperwork

- complex use of corporations and entities

- deciphering whats going on with regards to profit & loss, the cash flow statement, and the balance sheet and what does it mean with regards to the loan in question?

- may require accounting & finance degrees to interpret & understand

Most loan officers/bankers/lenders/file processors/underwriters are not finance or accounting specialists which is where the discrepancy really is in working with this niche. The burden of proof for structuring of the file to make it "easy," for all involved whether on the operations end or the borrower end is is mainly a people skill first and foremost and a core competency second which will explain why consumers may love their loan officer but find it drudging to go through a loan process as a self employed/business owner or investor.

Tips to make it easier:

- plan and project your financial goals for up to 2-3 years for whats being sold, whats being purchased, leverage taken against a property, properties being paid off, business P&L's and expected income numbers, acquisitions, inventory, etc etc obviously nothing ever goes exactly to plan but given the plans you can factor in your margin or errors/fudge factor into your figures to ensure you have the best chance of keeping things on track

- keep tax returns for all entities/companies/personal returns nearby and income documents readily available and book keeping software up to date

- work with tax advisors and or lending professionals who have businesses, invest themselves, or have experience with this area of expertise. This will be hard since most people in this field are usually doing it for their sole source of income and the people that are most likely to be living off their "assets and investment income," whom are probably the best qualified to advise you are probably not in the profession of advising unless they passionately enjoy helping others.

- find an advisor(s) who is a team player and can work well with others since it will require a team to plan these financials and documents in a manner that yields the best results.

- find an advisor(s) looking for your best interests and focused on whats most important to you

Let me know if you have any questions, thoughts, or suggestions on other topics I could share.