Self-employed
Self-employed and bank statement loans in Kentucky. Qualified on what your business actually deposits.
If your tax return is a work of art and your lender treats it as a confession, you are being underwritten by the wrong program. Bank statement lending reads the deposits instead.
A conversation first. No application and no credit check to get an answer.
The trap that catches good business owners
Your accountant's job is to reduce your taxable income, and if they are any good at it they succeed. Then you apply for a mortgage, and the underwriter opens the same return, reads the bottom line at face value, and concludes you cannot afford a house you have been comfortably renting the equivalent of for years.
Nothing about that is a judgment on your finances. It is a documentation mismatch — the money is real, the format is wrong. Bank statement lending fixes the format.
How the deposits become income
The lender takes 12 or 24 months of statements, averages the deposits, and applies an expense factor to reach a qualifying income figure. Roughly:
- Business accounts — commonly a 50% expense factor, on the assumption that half of what comes in goes back out as costs
- Business accounts with a CPA letter — a reduced factor where an accountant will attest to your genuine expense ratio, which can lift the qualifying figure substantially
- Personal accounts — often used at or near 100% of qualifying deposits, since what lands there is generally already net
- 1099 programs — for contractors paid on 1099, qualifying from the forms themselves
That factor is where the money is. The spread between a 50% factor and a reduced one can be tens of thousands of dollars of qualifying income on the same deposits, and different lenders treat the same business type differently. Placing the file well is most of the value here.
Non-QM is a different standard, not a lower one
These products sit outside the Qualified Mortgage framework, which is a regulatory category rather than a quality grade. The underwriting is thorough; it simply accepts a wider range of evidence that you can pay. Asset depletion programs qualify from liquid assets. Asset-based programs work for borrowers whose wealth is not income-shaped. ITIN programs serve borrowers without a Social Security number.
The common thread is that a real ability to pay exists and the conventional form has no box for it.
Ryan's own income is self-employed
He went independent as a 1099 originator himself, so the awkwardness of a return that does not describe your actual finances is not theoretical to him. It also means he knows which lenders treat which business structures generously, which is the difference between a decline and an approval on an identical file.
If you own the building your business operates from, or you are buying a rental, the conversation may also point toward a DSCR loan in Kentucky, which sidesteps personal income entirely.
Run the numbers
What income would your deposits support?
Average monthly deposits, with the expense factor the program applies. Switch the statement type to see how much the factor moves the answer.
Expense factors vary by lender and business type — this models the common ones. These are illustrative estimates, not a rate quote, an offer, or a commitment to lend. Your real figures depend on your full file. Every other program has its own calculator — they are collected here.
Common questions
Can I get a mortgage if I write most of my income off?
Yes. That is precisely what bank statement loans exist for. Rather than reading a tax return that has been legitimately reduced by every deduction available to you, the lender uses 12 or 24 months of deposits into your business or personal accounts and applies an expense factor to arrive at a qualifying income. Good accounting stops working against you.
How is qualifying income calculated on a bank statement loan?
The lender averages the deposits over the statement period and then applies an expense factor — commonly 50% on business accounts, with reduced factors sometimes available where a CPA will attest to your actual expense ratio. Personal accounts are often used at or near 100% of qualifying deposits. Which factor you get varies noticeably between lenders, and it changes the number materially.
How long do I need to have been self-employed?
Two years is the standard expectation, though there are programs that work at one year, particularly where you moved into self-employment within the same line of work you were previously employed in. If you are close to a threshold, it is sometimes worth timing an application rather than being declined and having to start again.
What is a non-QM loan?
Non-QM simply means the loan sits outside the Qualified Mortgage framework and is therefore not bound by its documentation rules. It is not a subprime product and it is not a lower standard — it is a different one, designed for income that is real but does not present itself in the format conventional underwriting expects. Bank statement, asset-based and 1099 programs all live here.
Can I get a mortgage with an ITIN instead of a Social Security number?
Yes. ITIN mortgage programs exist and function much like other portfolio products, generally with a larger down payment and pricing that reflects the smaller lender pool. Comparatively few originators write them, which is often the real barrier rather than eligibility itself.
No credit pull · No obligation
Put your bank statement loan scenario in front of Ryan.
Send the shape of your situation and Ryan will tell you where you actually stand — including when the answer is that a different program, or a different month, serves you better. He reads these himself.
🔒 Nothing on this form touches your credit. No Social Security number, no pay stubs, no application — just enough for Ryan to give you a straight answer. Equal Housing Opportunity. Ryan Miles, NMLS #112627 · Coast 2 Coast Mortgage, LLC, NMLS #376205.