Paid on 1099s? Qualify on 1099s.
Skip the tax returns entirely. A 1099 loan starts from the income your payers already reported to the IRS, applies a modest expense allowance instead of your actual write-offs, and calls that your qualifying income. So the mileage, home-office, and equipment deductions that make you smart at tax time stop making you invisible at the mortgage desk.
The 1099 squeeze, and the exit.
You earn well. Then Schedule C write-offs — mileage, home office, supplies — shrink the "income" a bank will count, and suddenly the person who out-earns their W-2 friends qualifies for less house. A 1099 loan sidesteps it: underwriting starts from your gross 1099 totals, applies a reasonable expense allowance instead of your actual write-offs, and that's your qualifying income.
Built for the 1099 economy.
Real estate agents. Loan officers, ironically. Consultants and IT contractors. Rideshare and delivery drivers stacking platforms. Travel nurses on agency contracts. Hair stylists renting a chair. Owner-operators. If your income arrives with a 1099 stapled to it every January, this product was built with you in mind.
1099 vs. bank statement — pick the cleaner story.
Same rule as everything we do: use the document that tells your income story best. All your income on a few clean 1099s from steady payers? The 1099 loan is elegant. Income scattered across many payers, cash-adjacent, or trending up mid-year? Bank statements may count more. Mixed W-2 plus 1099? There are files where both get used. We price the versions; you pick the winner.
What you'll need.
Your 1099s for the lookback period, evidence you're still earning from the same line of work, and the standard credit and asset picture. It's a short stack on purpose.
Straight answers.
Straight answers — the same way you'd get them on the phone.
How many years of 1099s do I need?+
Program-dependent — some accept one year, some want two. If you're newer to 1099 life, ask before you assume you're out.
I have W-2 income AND 1099 income. Which loan is that?+
Possibly a hybrid file, possibly full doc, possibly this. That's a ten-minute routing call, and it's the difference between "declined" and "approved" more often than you'd think.
Do my write-offs still hurt me here?+
No — that's the point. The program applies its own expense allowance instead of your Schedule C. Your CPA can keep doing their job, and you can still buy the house.
Can I use a 1099 loan for an investment property?+
Sometimes — but for rentals, DSCR usually wins on simplicity, since the property's rent qualifies instead of your income. We'll compare.
Every situation is different — this is general info, not a loan commitment or offer to lend.