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When you’re self-employed, it’s difficult to decide whether you are ready to buy a house. After all, your income might come in spurts instead of having a regular check every week or two. Being prepared for the mortgage process increases the chance that your application will be approved. Self-employed people have more hurdles to jump because of the nature of their income, even those that make six or more figures.>

Difficulties in Qualifying for a Mortgage

Since you’ve probably done a ton of research on mortgages and finding your dream home, you already know the basics—make sure your credit is good, how much down payment you’ll need and what you are able to afford. You may have a pretty good idea of what documents you need to provide and already have them ready. However, those pesky tax returns might come back to bite you.

Tax Returns

The biggest problem in qualifying for a mortgage when you’re self-employed is your tax returns. Most business people take every deduction allowed. However, while that’s great for your pocket since you pay less tax, it’s bad for applying for a mortgage.

Part of your self-employment tax returns is your expenses. You probably claim things like utilities, cell phones, business meals and travel and have a ton of depreciation. When a lender looks at the tax returns, it doesn’t add those things back in—except for depreciation. While you might make $300,000, your adjusted gross income on your tax return is going to be the number the lender looks at. If it’s $10,000, you’re not going to qualify for that loan.

Alternative Methods

You could amend your taxes or you could wait for two years and not claim anything on your taxes. However, that means you will be paying heavily to the IRS. Or, you could find a lender who does non-conforming loans. Some lenders are sympathetic to self-employed people and will use other methods of verifying income. Some banks may look at your deposits for a year instead. They’ll still ask for your tax returns, but will not use them to qualify your income.

Debt-to-Income Ratio

Your tax returns help lenders figure your debt-to-income ratio. While lenders are supposed to use your gross income, that does not hold true with self-employed borrowers. Lenders look at the adjusted gross income on your tax returns. That number is often lower than net income because of the expenses you deduct.

A lender adds up your debts and divides that number by your adjusted gross income. If you have a proposed mortgage payment of $1,200, a car payment of $650 and other credit lines, including credit cards of $500, you have $2,350 in debt. If your self-employed monthly income is $8,000, your debt-to-income ratio should be about 29 percent. But wait a second. That’s not the number on your tax returns.

If the adjusted gross income on the last two years of tax returns is $4,000 and $2,500 respectively, then your average monthly income is going to be $3,250 (add the two together, then divide by 2). That means your debt-to-income is actually 72 percent. The highest a lender will “give” you is 43 percent, though most will only consider your application if your debt-to-income is 39 percent not including your new mortgage and 33 percent including your new mortgage. In this example, a lender who uses deposits instead of tax returns will show a debt-to-income ratio of 29 percent.

If you are ready to purchase a house and want to learn more about qualifying for a loan, feel free to reach out. Together, we'll be able to get you into the home of your dreams, despite the hurdles.

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As anyone up-to-speed on technology knows, social media is everywhere. And it’s a powerful tool—if used properly. You can share information in real-time and receive real-time responses and reactions. Therefore, you should be using social media to your advantage when selling your home. You’re probably wondering what social media has to do with selling a home, right? Well, let’s take a look at a couple ways where social media will not only come in handy, but might just help sell your home in real-time.

1. Post your listing

It’s very likely that your listing will be posted on many real-estate sites and even on social media. This is your opportunity to capitalize on that posting and post on your own social media channels.  Consider posting to Facebook, Twitter and even Instagram. By doing this you are increasing the views that your listing will receive and increasing the likelihood that the right buyer will see your home. And all it takes is one person to love your home for it to sell.

2. Ask your friends to share

Word of mouth goes a long way. Technology’s way of word of mouth is through sharing on social media. And if you want to maximize the amount of people who will see your listing, ask your friends to share the posting—they may even add a little note to their share, which (if positive, hopefully) will only help.

3. Give them a reason to love your home

Add a personal message when sharing your listing. Tell the story of how your daughter took her first steps in the family room or how you felt the first time you walked through the front door. Giving that personal touch will bring positive feelings of your home. It will give the potential home buyer the thoughts of all the firsts that they could experience in that home.

Of course, social media will not sell your home. You should be taking the proper steps suggested by your realtor to get it in optimal shape for selling such as making small updates, decluttering, and removing overly personal items. You should also have great photos of your home for the listing. The photos will make a world of a difference when buyers are looking online. It could make or break whether they even consider your home or attend a showing.

If selling your home is timely then social media should bean important component to your selling strategy. It’s the age of technology and every generation is on social media in some respect, especially the millennial generation. And it’s important to pay attention to the millennials as more and more will begin the home buying process. It’s essential to be where they are and for most, they’re on social media.

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If you plan to conduct a house search, there is no reason to settle for inferior results. Instead, you should dedicate the necessary time and resources to conduct a comprehensive search for your dream house.

Ultimately, there are many reasons why it pays to perform an in-depth home search. These include:

1. You can avoid the risk of buying a subpar house.

As a homebuyer, it is paramount to discover a residence that meets or exceeds your expectations. Because if you purchase a house that falls short of your expectations, you may suffer the consequences of your decision for years to come.

For example, if you want to acquire a home quickly, you may be tempted to submit an offer to purchase the first house you view in-person. You might even choose to ignore house problems that are discovered during an inspection.

In the aforementioned scenario, you may wind up purchasing a home that will require costly, time-intensive repairs in the foreseeable future. Perhaps worst of all, you may struggle to generate equal value for your residence if you decide to re-sell it at a later date.

2. You can boost the likelihood of finding a house that matches your budget.

If you have a limited homebuying budget at your disposal, there is no need to leave any stone unturned in your quest for your ideal residence.

By dedicating time and resources to conduct an extensive house search, you'll be better equipped than other buyers to find a first-rate residence at a budget-friendly price. Plus, you may be able to pounce at the opportunity to buy a home that matches your budget as soon as this residence becomes available.

3. You may be able to capitalize on a buyer's market.

A patient homebuyer may be able to wait out a seller's market, i.e. a real estate market that features an abundance of buyers and a shortage of sellers. And in this situation, a buyer could capitalize on a buyer's market, i.e. a real estate market that boasts an abundance of sellers and a shortage of buyers. As a result, this buyer could choose from a wide selection of top-notch residences in a buyer's market and select a residence that offers a great combination of affordability and quality.

If you plan to pursue a home soon, you may want to hire a real estate agent. Because if you have a real estate agent at your side, you can receive plenty of support throughout the property buying journey.

A real estate agent understands what it takes to conduct a thorough home search. He or she will keep you up to date about new houses that become available in your preferred cities and towns and offer expert homebuying recommendations. Also, if you want to submit an offer to purchase a home, a real estate agent will help you put together a competitive homebuying proposal.

Simplify the homebuying process – work with a real estate agent, and you can streamline your house search.

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