In order for bonus, overtime, or commission income to be considered, you must have a history of receiving it and it must be likely to continue. We will usually need to obtain copies of W-2 statements for the previous two years and a recent pay stub to verify this type of income. If a major part of your income is commission earnings, we may need to obtain copies of recent tax returns to verify the amount of business-related expenses, if any. We will average the amounts you have received over the past two years to calculate the amount which can be considered as a regular part of your income.

If you have not been receiving bonus, overtime, or commission income for at least one year, it probably cannot be given full value when your loan is reviewed for approval.

We will ask for copies of your recent pension check stubs, or bank statement if your pension or retirement income is deposited directly in your bank account. Sometimes it will also be necessary to verify this income will continue for at least three years since some pension or retirement plans do not provide income for life. This can usually be verified with a copy of your award letter. If you do not have an award letter, we can contact the source of this income directly for verification.

If you are receiving tax-free income, such as social security earnings in some cases, we will consider the fact that taxes will not be deducted from this income when reviewing your request.

Generally, only income reported on your tax return can be considered when applying for a mortgage, unless the income is legally tax-free and is not required to be reported.

Some lenders may offer a stated income program, which means you can be qualified for a loan based on the income you state rather than that which can be verified. Usually these programs require larger down payments and offer substantially higher interest rates than regular mortgage rates. We do not offer stated income programs at this time.

If you own rental properties, we will generally ask for the most recent year's federal tax return to verify your rental income. We will review the Schedule E of the tax return to verify your rental income, after all expenses except depreciation. Since depreciation is only a paper loss, it will not be counted against your rental income.

If you have not owned the rental property for a complete tax year, we will ask for a copy of any executed leases and estimate the expenses of ownership.

Generally, two years personal tax returns are required to verify the amount of your dividend and/or interest income so an average of the amounts you receive can be calculated. In addition, we will need to verify your ownership of the assets which generate the income using copies of statements from your financial institution, brokerage statements, stock certificates or Promissory Notes.

Typically, income from dividends and/or interest must be expected to continue for at least three years to be considered for repayment.

Information about child support, alimony, or separate maintenance income does not need to be provided unless you wish to have it considered for repaying this mortgage loan.

Typically, income from a second job will be considered if a one-year history of secondary employment can be verified.

Having changed employers frequently is typically not a hindrance to obtaining a new mortgage loan. This is particularly true if you made employment changes without having periods of time in between without employment. We will also look at your income advancements as you have changed employment.

If you are paid on a commission basis, a recent job change may be an issue since we will have a difficult time predicting your earnings without a history with your new employer.

If you were in school before your current job, enter the name of the school you attended and the length of time you were in school in the "length of employment" fields. You can enter a position of "student" and income of "0."

If you are purchasing a home, we will use the lower of the appraised value or the sales price to determine your down payment requirement.

It is still a great benefit for your financial situation if you are able to purchase a home for less than the appraised value; however our investors do not allow us to use this "instant equity" when making our loan decision.