While buying a home for the self-employed worker may seem like something of a far-off unreality, the self-employed are becoming more and more these days the big earners in our job markets. With a see-saw housing market, interest rates which could make your head spin, and fewer and fewer ‘long-term career jobs’ available, people are navigating the choppy waters of the self-employed lifestyle. Still one of the bonuses of a regular, steady paycheck is that same security which keeps so many clinging to their jobs for dear life. If you have eschewed that lifestyle though and still want the white-picket-fence American dream we all grew up striving for, there is still a way. The following are a few suggestions for the self-employed worker to be able to find and buy a home they can call their own.
Show Consistent Earnings: If you have recently been self-employed, you may need to gain your wings on this first point. However if you have been consistently earning paychecks of the self-employed variety and are able to demonstrate the long-term viability to be your own boss, then a bank or credit union should be able to look at you with the same eyes. Money is money and especially if you own all your own income streams or you have multiple income streams, you are an earner the same as anyone else.
Stay Within Your Price Range: One of the biggest things about buying a home is when people overreach. You can always move up if you suddenly become an overnight millionaire, but if you stay within or below your budget to begin with, you can be a successful self-employed home-buyer.
Stay Within a Geographic Area: One more component to the American dream is location. If you are self-employed though you may have to sacrifice on your exact location in order to qualify for a less expensive home. Staying away from major metropolitan areas, looking in the south, or looking in middle America in up-and-coming developments or communities is your best bet. You’re not going to qualify for that penthouse apartment in Manhattan or that San Francisco Victorian unless you have some kind of a guaranteed income stream.
Bigger Down Payment: Another way which you can qualify for a home as a self-employed individual is if you are able to put a bigger down payment. Paying 3-5-10% is the normal for most home buyers but if you can prove a 30 or 40 or 50% down payment, you will have a lot more luck qualifying for a home loan.
Being a home buyer in America is the American dream. Being self-employed can put a real wrinkle in that dream. However if you’re able to follow these suggestions you too can join the ranks of the home owning elite.
