Traditional lenders use automated underwriting engines that treat any gap in pay stubs as a red flag. Their software literally flags “zero income” months and divides by 12, giving you an average that looks unaffordable. We use human underwriters who follow agency guidelines allowing “intermittent employment” documentation. That means we can substitute union seniority lists, rehire letters, or fishing-season permits to prove the income will return next cycle. One client in Maine had been lobstering since high school; we paired his captain’s letter with tide charts showing the legal season. Result: approved for $315k with 5% down through Fannie Mae’s HomeReady program.

Another trap lenders spring is counting only W-2 base pay. Seasonal workers live on overtime—sometimes 60-hour weeks—then collect unemployment tied to those same hours. We aggregate both using HUD Handbook 4000.1 formulas. Your effective hourly rate ends up far higher than the “base” HR puts on a letter. We’ve turned $18/hr base rates into $34/hr qualifying income simply by documenting history and averaging overtime plus benefits. That difference can be the key that unlocks the house you want in the school district you need.

Let’s run real math. Suppose you’re a wildland firefighter in Montana, employed May–October at $28/hr, averaging 55 hrs/week with overtime after 40. Six months of gross pay equals roughly $40k. Add the off-season unemployment of $600/wk for the remaining 26 weeks and you have another $15.6k. Combined annual qualifying income: $55,600. Using FHA’s 31% front-end ratio, that supports a monthly housing payment of $1,437. After estimating taxes and insurance, you can finance about $235,000. In Missoula, that buys a three-bedroom fixer within city limits or a turnkey home in nearby Huson.

Now compare the alternative: the average rent for a two-bed apartment in Missoula is $1,550 and climbing 8% yearly. Over five years, you’d pay $93,000 in rent with zero equity. Own with 3.5% down ($8,225 on the example above) and a 6.75% FHA rate, and you build roughly $42,000 in equity from appreciation and principal pay-down—while your payment stays fixed. That’s a swing of $135,000 in your favor, even accounting for maintenance. The seasonal rhythm that scared banks away is the same rhythm that lets you bank cash during fire season and comfortably cover the mortgage in winter.

1. Scan the denial—send it to us. We pinpoint which income the lender ignored so we know exactly what to fix.
2. Open a fresh Dropbox link we send you; drag in 12 months of bank statements, last two tax returns, and any employer letters. Don’t organize—we do that part.
3. Choose your program:
   • FHA Seasonal Worker—best for credit scores 580-650, only 3.5% down.
   • USDA Rural Seasonal—0% down, cheapest PMI, must be in eligible town under 35k population.
   • Bank-Statement Non-QM—use 24-month deposit average, credit scores down to 600, down payment 10%.
4. We run DU/LP and a manual underwrite simultaneously, stacking both approvals so the seller sees strength and you see options.
5. Get a fully underwritten pre-approval letter—valid 120 days, amount locked even if the season ends.
6. House-hunt with a realtor who knows seasonal closings; we hand you three names who’ve closed our clients.
7. Close in as little as 21 days; we schedule signing around your work season so you’re not missing paychecks at sea or on the slope.

The fastest we’ve turned a denial into a clear-to-close was 18 days—a commercial salmon fisherman in Anchorage who’d been turned away for “lack of current income.” We documented his upcoming crew contract, used his 24-month bank averages, and paired him with a seller who needed to close before heading to the Lower 48 for winter. He moved in September 30th, two weeks before boats left the harbor.

Last year Kiana, a Maui resort cocktail server, worked November–April and collected unemployment the rest. A credit-union lender pre-qualified her for $180k, which wouldn’t touch a studio. NMHL used her actual deposited tips ($68k average over two years) and approved her for $425k with 5% down through a conventional bank-statement loan. She bought a cottage in Wailuku, rents out the spare room to a coworker, and the tenant’s rent covers two-thirds of the mortgage—during the months Kiana is technically “unemployed.”

Then there’s Carlos, a traveling carnival tech who assembles rides in 14 states March–October. His previous bank averaged only the three months they could verify pay stubs, calling the rest “unstable.” We used his employer’s route schedule, showing he returns to the same fairs annually, and paired it with bank statements capturing cash per-diem deposits. An FHA underwriter accepted the pattern as “likely to continue.” Carlos closed on a $198k modular home in Plant City, Florida, while the carnival was still in Ohio. His wife sent us a photo of their kids painting their new bedrooms—taken from the top of the Ferris wheel he built that same season.

Stories like these happen because we refuse to let software decide a human life. Seasonal work isn’t a flaw—it’s a predictable, documented rhythm. Once you translate that rhythm into the language underwriters speak, doors open. And they stay open, because every year you build equity, your credit score climbs, and your fixed mortgage payment feels smaller against rising rents.