Will it only be discovered during an audit or are there some other checks and balances in place?

I have worked as an Auditor, Tax Preparer, Controller, and now as a remotely based bookkeeper. 

I'm a CPA and worked in public accounting as a financial statement auditor for 3 years, and have since moved on to an accounting role at a large corporation here in town. 

i used to go to Michigan for business trip when I was an Auditor based in Chicago, and always drove past the Kalamazoo!

Hi Mark,I used the actual values from the county auditor's website.

As an auditor I have a habit of running my finger over the signature to feel the texture bump of an original signature.

Going off that train of thought I could also use the county auditor site and do the same search.

HI Roxanne,It is true you need to be in the business for 2 years but no one talks about the details about how that is documented which is either by:- Looking up CA BRE website consumer licensee information which will show how long you've been licensed- CPA letter to sign/date on you being self employed for 2 + years or 5+ years if you're using Freddie Mac's program since Freddie specifically wants 5+ years to use 1 year tax return- or another third party to verify you've been SE (self employed) like business licenses, attorney's, other auditor or licensesWith regards to income like others have mentioned you can use 1 year tax return to base your monthly qualifying income off of.Freddie mac, like mentioned above is a a conventional financing option but the downside with Freddie is they want 5 years in the business as documented with one of the options above.

You can look at the county auditors website to find out the amount for property taxes.

You are inviting IRS auditors into your life by doing this, and not with a favorable result.