HACKER Q&A
📣 earlydweller

Mortgage Financing for Independent Contractors?


Does anyone out there know of any lenders that work with 1099-based independent contractors?

I have a situation now where I am being rejected by lenders for a $170,000 mortgage when earning $160,000 per year. Since January I have been working as an independent contractor on 1099. I am being told that due to not having a tax history established as a 1099-based worker that they won't count it as income. I even have W-2s that reflect similar income for the previous three years.

Additionally, I currently have a mortgage with a perfect payment history, and a pending home sale that nets me a bunch of money.

I figured I would throw this out to the Hacker News community as there must be an abundance of ICs out there. Anyone know of lenders that will work with a situation like this? Anyone have a similar story?

Heck, if nothing else, this seems like an opportunity for startups?


  👤 davismwfl Accepted Answer ✓
Talk to a mortgage broker not directly with banks. There are plenty of lenders that will do low/no doc loans still and they will work with you if you can prove 2-3 years of similar salary to the 1099s. Getting loans as an independent contractor can be a pain until you have a few years of proof under your belt, but it isn't impossible if you are willing to do a little extra work. Also, I wouldn't be shocked that the first one you will pay slightly higher interest if you can't put down a substantial down payment.

I have done this myself, in fact I bought not only my personal homes while being a contractor I had bought investment real estate too. It was also weird because when I went from 1099 to my own business the first time it was harder to get loans again for a year or two, not impossible, just harder. Banks teach their front line teams to be conservative and reject anything that doesn't look like a traditional loan, unless of course you can skip those teams as the wealthy do. But every bank owns mortgage companies that do non-traditional loans, and mortgage brokers are the ones that are suited to get you a deal that works.

Don't be afraid of using a mortgage broker, they are not evil, they are not there to steal money or to raise your rates. They serve a real purpose and good ones can be a lifesaver.


👤 arthurcolle
This is a great idea, shoot me an email.