Good news that many people don’t know… underwriters DO count the following income sources when you apply for a home loan…
Seasonal Work Some jobs, such as construction, roofing, road construction, etc. are seasonal and it is standard to receive unemployment income during the off season. That is perfectly fine and your unemployment checks count in your annual income. Calculate your annual income for the past two years and then divide it by 24 for your Nannual income.
Overtime Income As long as you can document receiving overtime income for the past 12 to 24 months, you can put it on your loan application. (Whether 12 or 24 months is required depends on the overall strength of your loan application for the automated underwriter.)
Pay Increase For a recent pay raise, explain and document, then you can use your new, higher income to quality. (Your loan officer will help you with this.)
Incarceration Income For people who were in prison, write down your prison job and income, such as: Federal prison, Custodial work, $35/month, 15 years. You use that to satisfy the two=year employment requirement. Then you will need 12 months of employment on the outside, and that is the income figure that will be used to qualify. If you have been out of prison for more than 24 months, do not include your prison job on the application at all, because only a two-year record of working is required.
Recent college grads Your years in school count toward the two-year employment requirement, but you need at least 12 months earning income. If you graduated three months ago and began work immediately, you need nine more months of income to qualify for a mortgage.
The above is an excerpt from Chapter 17, “Income: Qualify Your Earnings Like an Underwriter,” Get the Mortgage You Want Like a Pro.
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