Walk into most bank branches and the loan officer is trained to look for two years of W-2s plus a current pay-stub. When you hand them a stack of 1099s from Uber, Etsy, Fiverr, and DoorDash, their computer system literally has no checkbox for it, so they say "sorry, can't help." That rejection feels personal, but it's just a software limitation.

Conventional underwriting software (called DU or LPA) is built around predictable salary income. Gig money is treated as "variable" and gets discounted by 25% unless you can prove two years of receipt. Even then, the underwriter has to average your net Schedule C income—after mileage, phone, software, and home-office deductions—so the final number often looks too small to support a mortgage.

NMHL uses a separate set of investors who live outside that software. Their guidelines were written for real estate investors, consultants, and artists long before the gig economy existed. Instead of averaging taxable income, they total your actual bank deposits over 12 or 24 months, apply a standard 15–25% expense factor, and use the remaining amount as qualifying income. The result: a rideshare driver who deposited $72k last year can qualify using $54k–$61k instead of the $19k that shows up on line 31 of Schedule C.

Most gig workers already keep better records than they realize. Instead of pay-stubs, we need:

• 12 or 24 months of business or personal bank statements (PDFs you can download tonight)
• 1099s from every platform you worked for in the past two years
• A simple profit-and-loss form we provide—takes 10 minutes to fill out
• One verification letter from your main platform (auto-generated from the driver app)
• State-issued ID and Social Security card—same as any loan

If you drive for Uber and deliver for DoorDash, we'll add the deposits from both accounts. If you also sell printables on Etsy, we can include that 1099-K too. The key is that money must land in a bank account you control. Cash tips you stuffed in a drawer won't count, but once you deposit them—even if it's once a week—they become part of the qualifying total.

Many borrowers worry about "missing statements." If you changed banks, just give us statements for both accounts during the overlap months; we simply net out transfers so nothing is double-counted. Overdrafts aren't automatic deal-killers either; we write a short letter of explanation and move on.

Here's the fun part: because we use deposits instead of taxable income, most gig workers qualify for 30–50% more house than they expected. The bank-statement math looks like this:

• Total deposits for 12 months = $75,000
• Apply 25% expense factor → $56,250 qualifying income
• Divide by 12 → $4,687 monthly usable income
• Multiply by 45% debt-to-income cap → $2,109 available for all debt
• Subtract a $300 car payment → $1,809 for mortgage, taxes, insurance

At today's rates, $1,800 all-in payment covers roughly a $275k house with 5% down or a $310k house if you put 10% down. Compare that to using the $22k net income on your tax return, which only supports a $125k purchase. The difference is life-changing: instead of a cramped condo 40 minutes away, you can shop for a three-bedroom home near decent schools.

We always run both calculations side-by-side so you can see the advantage. If you prefer a smaller payment to keep breathing room for slow weeks, that's fine too. The goal is choice—something you lose when you walk into a lender who refuses to count your real money.

Because these loans are manually underwritten, they take slightly longer than a cookie-canner 30-day close—usually 35 to 45 days. Here's the real-world timeline:

Day 1: 15-minute phone call, pull credit, send secure link for bank statements.
Day 3: Receive pre-approval letter showing max price and estimated cash needed.
Week 1: House hunt with realtor who understands gig income (we can recommend several).
Week 3: Offer accepted, appraisal ordered, upload remaining docs (1099s, ID, P&L).
Week 4: Underwriting review; possible one-time request for updated bank snapshot.
Week 5: Final approval, closing disclosure sent, three-day review period.
Week 6: Sign papers, get keys, post Instagram photo with #GigWorkerHomeowner.

The biggest bottleneck is usually the borrower's own schedule—if you're driving peak hours, we get it. Upload documents at 2 a.m. if that's when you're off the clock. We also text reminders so nothing slips through cracks. Once you've done it, the whole file lives in our portal; next time you buy or refinance, it's a five-minute re-submit.

Maybe you just started gig work six months ago, or your credit score is 540 and your deposits are sporadic. That doesn't mean homeownership is years away—it means we stage the race instead of sprinting.

First, open a separate business checking account and run every platform payment through it. Deposit cash tips weekly. Keep statements clean: no NSF, no transfers to Venmo for poker night. Second, pay down credit cards to under 30% of the limit; our credit team can run simulator in 15 minutes and tell you which card to tackle first. Third, track miles with an app like Stride; when tax time comes, decide which deductions you actually need. Sometimes taking fewer write-offs for one year boosts qualifying income more than the extra tax savings hurts.

If you need a co-borrower to bridge the gap, we offer a one-year refinance program. Mom or Dad can go on the loan today, then we remove them once you hit 12 consecutive months of gig deposits and a 620+ credit score. You're still on title the whole time, so you never lose equity or tax benefits. Most clients refinance at the same or better rate because credit scores jump 40-60 points once an installment loan seasons and card balances stay low.

Whatever stage you're at, call us. Even if closing is 18 months away, we'll map out the exact months to pay down debt, the months to stop heavy mileage deductions, and the months to apply. Walking in blind is what kills deals; walking in with a plan is how gig workers become homeowners every single day.