Loan Program
Your Tax Return Is Not Your Income Statement.
You did not do anything wrong. Your accountant did their job, your tax return shows a modest net income, and a lender who only knows one way to read income told you no. There are four other ways to read it.
Self-Employed Programs: What You Need to Know
This is the work I am known for. A business owner nets $60,000 on paper after equipment, mileage, home office, and depreciation, while $30,000 a month moves through the business account. Conventional underwriting sees the $60,000. Bank statement, 1099, P&L, and no-ratio programs see the rest of the picture. If someone has already told you no, that conversation is usually the beginning, not the end.
Who This Is For
- Business owners with two or more years of self-employment and significant write-offs
- 1099 contractors, consultants, and commission-only earners
- Real estate agents, insurance brokers, and other variable-income professionals
- Gig economy and multi-stream earners whose income does not fit one W-2 box
- Anyone who was denied elsewhere specifically because of how their tax returns look
How It Works
Your Self-Employed Programs Roadmap
No mystery steps, no waiting a week to hear back. Here is exactly how the process runs from first call to closing table.
- 1
Diagnose the income, do not just document it
We start with how your business actually operates — deposit patterns, entity structure, ownership percentage, distributions. That determines which of the four programs produces the strongest qualifying income for you.
- 2
Choose the program that maximizes qualifying income
The same borrower can qualify for very different loan amounts depending on the program. I run your income under multiple methods and show you the comparison before we commit.
- 3
Assemble clean documentation
Bank statements, a business license or CPA letter confirming self-employment, and entity documents. Because these files are underwritten by hand, presentation matters — sloppy documentation causes preventable denials.
- 4
Underwrite, appraise, and close
Non-QM files receive manual underwriting from someone who reads them, rather than an automated engine. Typical closings run 21 to 35 days.
Key Benefits
Why Borrowers Choose This Program
Bank statement qualifying
We use 12 or 24 months of business or personal bank deposits to establish income, applying an expense factor rather than your tax write-offs. For most business owners this produces a qualifying income two to four times higher than their return shows.
1099 income programs
Contractors can qualify using gross 1099 income with a reasonable expense factor instead of net Schedule C income. One or two years of 1099s can be enough documentation.
P&L-only options
A profit and loss statement prepared by your CPA or licensed tax preparer, sometimes with limited bank statements for support, can carry the file. This is the lightest documentation path available.
No-ratio and asset-based loans
When income documentation is genuinely impractical, no-ratio programs qualify on credit, down payment, and reserves without calculating income at all. Asset depletion is another route for borrowers with substantial holdings.
Compare the Four Programs
Same Borrower. Four Different Answers.
Which program you use can change your qualifying income by a factor of two or three. This is the comparison I run before recommending anything.
| Bank Statement | 1099 | P&L Only | No-Ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income proof used | 12–24 months of deposits | Gross 1099 income | CPA-prepared P&L | None |
| Tax returns required | No | No | No | No |
| Typical minimum credit | 620–660 | 640 | 660–680 | 680–700 |
| Typical down payment | 10%–20% | 10%–20% | 15%–25% | 25%–30% |
| Best for | Business owners with heavy write-offs | Contractors and consultants | Owners with clean CPA books | Complex or undocumentable income |
| Documentation burden | Moderate | Light | Lightest with CPA support | Minimal |
Guidelines shown are typical ranges across investors and are not an offer of credit. Actual terms depend on your full profile and are subject to underwriting approval.
At a Glance
The Numbers, Plainly
Guidelines shown are general and current as of publication. Program availability varies by state, property, and borrower eligibility, and all loans are subject to full underwriting approval.
- Minimum down payment
- Typically 10%–20% depending on program and credit
- Typical credit score
- 620–680 minimum depending on program
- Income documentation
- 12–24 months bank statements, 1099s, CPA P&L, or none
- Self-employment history
- Generally 2 years; 1 year possible in some cases
- Debt-to-income
- Usually up to 50%; not calculated at all on no-ratio programs
- Occupancy allowed
- Primary, second home, or investment property
Myths & Misconceptions
Things People Believe That Cost Them Money
Self-employed borrowers need two years of tax returns.
For conventional loans, generally yes. For the programs above, no. Bank statement and P&L loans exist specifically because tax returns are a poor measure of a business owner’s ability to repay.
These are the risky loans that caused 2008.
They are not. Today’s non-QM loans require documented income through an alternative method, verified assets, real down payments, and full ability-to-repay analysis. What disappeared after 2008 was undocumented lending, not alternative documentation.
You should amend your tax returns to show more income.
Please do not do this without talking to me and your CPA first. Amending returns to inflate income creates tax liability and underwriting scrutiny, and it is almost never necessary once you use the right program.
Client Experience
“We thought we could not qualify because we were self-employed. Jason found a solution and got us into our dream home.”
Self-Employed Buyer
Business Owner
Testimonials reflect individual experiences. Results vary and are not a guarantee of future outcomes.
Not sure this is your program?
That is what the free strategy call is for. Twenty minutes, no obligation, and you leave knowing which financing path actually fits your situation.
Book a Free Strategy CallDocument Checklist
What You Actually Need to Send Me
Notice what is missing from every one of these lists: two years of tax returns.
Bank statement loan
- 12 or 24 months of business or personal bank statements
- Business license or CPA letter confirming self-employment
- Entity documents if you own through an LLC or corporation
- Photo ID and a completed application
1099 loan
- One or two years of 1099 forms
- Year-to-date earnings documentation
- Business license or CPA confirmation
- Photo ID and a completed application
P&L loan
- Profit and loss statement prepared by a CPA or licensed tax preparer
- Two to three months of bank statements for support on some programs
- Business license or CPA letter
- Photo ID and a completed application
No-ratio loan
- No income documentation at all
- Credit report and score
- Verified assets for down payment and reserves
- Photo ID and a completed application
Why You Were Denied Elsewhere
Five Reasons, Five Fixes
Send me the denial letter. Nine times out of ten the reason listed maps to one of these.
- 1
Your net income was too low after write-offs
Bank statement or 1099 qualifying uses deposits or gross income instead of the net figure on Schedule C. For most business owners this multiplies qualifying income.
- 2
Your income declined year over year
Conventional underwriting averages two years and penalizes a decline. A 12-month bank statement program looks at the most recent year only, which frequently solves it.
- 3
You have been self-employed less than two years
Some programs accept one year of self-employment with documented prior experience in the same field. That is very common for people who left a W-2 job to do the same work independently.
- 4
Your business and personal finances are mixed together
Personal bank statement programs are built for exactly this. We use the account where the money actually lands rather than forcing a clean business-entity structure that does not exist.
- 5
The lender did not have the program
The most common reason of all. Many retail lenders only offer agency loans, so a file that needs alternative documentation gets a denial rather than a referral. That is not a reflection on your file.
Already been told no?
Send me the denial reasons and 24 months of business bank statements. I will tell you within a business day whether there is a path — and if there genuinely is not one yet, what it would take to build it.
Send Me Your ScenarioQuestions
Self-Employed Programs FAQs
We total deposits over 12 or 24 months, remove transfers and non-business deposits, then apply an expense factor — often 50% for business accounts, or a CPA-provided figure. What remains, divided by the number of months, is your qualifying income.
Two years is standard. Some programs accept one year of self-employment when there is related prior experience in the same field, which helps professionals who recently left a W-2 job to do the same work independently.
They price above conventional because they carry more underwriting risk. The comparison that matters is not this loan versus a conventional loan you cannot get — it is this loan versus continuing to rent. Many clients refinance into conventional financing two or three years later once their returns support it.
Yes. Personal statements often use a smaller expense factor or none at all, since the money has already been distributed to you. If you pay yourself regularly from the business, personal statements frequently produce the better result.
Usually not. Most denials I see are program mismatches, not borrower problems. Send me the denial reasons and the last two years of business bank statements, and I will tell you within a day whether there is a path.
Let’s Solve Your Mortgage Situation.
Apply online in about 12 minutes, or grab a free 20-minute strategy call. Either way, you’ll leave knowing more than you do right now.