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Pre-approval question
First off let me introduce myself, my name as Sam and my husband and I have been married a year and 1/2 and have been together 10 years. The knot community pretty much helped me through the entire wedding planning process, so I thought I would look for help on here too. :-)
We started looking at houses last fall, but that was postponed because we both started new jobs. We are now both secure in our positions and ready to buy a house stat (his drive is 1 hr each way and mine in 45 minutes, and gas isn't getting any cheaper).
However when we talked to a bank this week they said that we wouldn't be able to get a loan because my husband is a contract worker. Not that it matters, but he is a network engineer and the company he works for has a hiring freeze until July... his boss has already had him go through the paperwork to be hired on, so we know that he will be hired on within the next few months.
I'm just looking for some basic support either way... do we just wait until he is hired on, continue to talk to different banks to see if any of them have programs that would accept us... or do we put it all on the back burner for a while and try again later? Our credit is great, we have great paying jobs, and our budget is run like a tight ship... Anyone else run into this issue?
Thanks for any suggestions and support ahead of time. :-)
Re: Pre-approval question
I would try different banks. I'm actually surprised they told you that you wouldn't get a loan without looking at all of the factors, but I'm new to this as well
good luck
As a contract worker there is no guarantee that he will ever be hired full time and that is all the bank cares about. You might check to see if you could get a letter from the employer regarding their intent to hire him as a full time employee and at what date. You can also shop around with other banks to see if someone else would work with you.
We ran into a sort of similar situation when we first got pre-approved because my husband is an hourly employee but regular overtime is a significant portion of his pay. They didn't want to include the overtime pay initially until we could show a long pattern of consistent overtime. They are just trying to cover their butts but the longer you have to show steady pay stubs the better.
We literally just got our pre-approval today and I'm a contract worker. However, I've been in the same job for 2 years as a contractor, so I think that helped. H is also National Guard and it's a VA loan so that can be a contributing factor.
But I would try another bank and see what they say. Or ask the advice of a mortgage broker. Your best bet may be just getting a mortgage in your name. Since I carry all of our debt, we would have tried again with just H.
we are/were running into this problem too. As a contract worker, is he a 1099 or a W2? If he is W2 it is much easier for the banks (so I have been told).
We tried a couple of different places. In the end, we have had the best luck so far with a bigger bank (Chase) rather than one of the local lenders or credit union. Definitely try a few different places to see what they have to say. If he is a W2, make sure you emphasize that, since it seems banks greatly prefer that to someone who gets 1099s.
Oh my goodness thank you all so much!!!
He does get W2 through his position, and although he has only been there since early fall he doesn't have any gap in his employment history since he was 16... thought that might help too. I will have him get a letter of intent though from his employer in the hopes that helps too. :-)
As for going only off of my income, unfortunately although my job is hugely rewarding I manage a non-profit and therefore don't make a huge salary.
We will continue to talk to banks in the area and get in contact with a mortgage broker right away. Hopefully someone is able to get us a loan... I'm getting sick of the drive and we really just want a home to start our life in.
You all rock! Thank you for telling me there might be a little hope.