I have recently started a new family and have quickly grown tired of living in an apartment. So, I have been entertaining the idea of moving into a house to better fit my family and our lifestyles. A family friend on my womans side of the family had reffered me to someone who deals greatly with VA loans (I am prior military) Well, here is where the issue comes into play... quick back story, the company I currently work for I had worked for after getting out of the Army back in 08'. I was only with them a short while as it is a directional company for oil/gas rigs and everything went downhill pretty rapidly come 09'. After being layed off, I enrolled in some college courses up until the beginning of this year (Jan) when I was re-hired with the same company. Needless to say my past 2 years of taxes dont fair very well on my income. Not to mention, with my current job it is mainly "comission" based. I DO recieve a base salary, but it is quite low in terms of a loan company ONLY considering "salary" and not "comission". Most of my pay is recieved from my day rate when I am on a rig (which is quite a bit!) So anyway, the person I spoke with about applying for a home loan quickly informed me that due to me having a "comission" based job, lenders will not consider that income untill 2 years of employment there, but possibly after 18 months, but no guarantee. So on to my main and actual question, is there NO ONE that would consider my comission pay with only have been working at my current job for roughly 10 months so far? I was kind of hoping he would get back with me saying some lenders would, but just at a higher interest rate, which I could suck up for another 2ish years and just refinance. At this time I have for the most part writen off getting into a house untill about a year from now, but if it is at all possible I am wanting and more than capable of making that step. My debt to income ratio is very good as I have very little in debt and make a, in my opinion, pretty decent money. Any help or info is greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long post.

 

I am not 100%, but with a VA loan it should be easier to get one. Just dont over spend on the house. When I went to buy a house, they would not approve me on my E4 pay. But I was putting on E5 the month I was wanting to close on the house. So after a battle with Countrywide (now Bank of America), I got the final approval and the house. But I had a bad Credit to Debt Ratio at that time, so that also didnt help.

If your base salary is high enough to get a decent starter house, use the base. And after a couple years of living there and working for the company, buy a better house with the additional income. I believe the general Rule of Thumb is you should spead more then 1/3 of you gross income on your monthy mortage.

As reference, I bought an 1,188 sq ft 3 bedroom/2 bathroom/2 car garage house on 0.18 acre. Its in one of the nicer/more desireable neighborhoods of Abilene. Selling price of $91,500 and a final loan amount of $93,238.44 when all fees and extras things rolled in. Mortage payment is about $530, and then $774 when escrow is added into the payment. My loan is a VA 30 year fixed rate at 5.25%.

GL with the house hunt.

 

Yeah, my base salary isnt anything to look twice at. The guy I was talking to about the VA loan said it is the same as far as looking at salary vs comission after 2 years with the company weather it be a VA loan, FHA, or conventional. He said they would not consider my truck allowance I recieve every month, re embersment for fuel, daily expenses (45 dollars a day I am out on a job for food) or my commission (my day rate for days out on a job). It really sucks because me "going in to work" is going to a rig. That IS where I make my money. My base salary comes out to around 26k a year, so yeah, like I said, isnt really **** when you look at my pay THAT way.

 

It's all about debt to income ratio, your W2's, and your down payment.

If you have good ratio, payment, and w2's you will get something. Do you have a good credit score?

Just go to a bank and see what you qualify for. It doesn't cost anything. The VA will make it easier.

 

This.

 

My wife is a Texas REALTOR. If you not working with anyone we would be happy to get all your finance questions answered by a licensed mortgage professional (FREE!), and help you locate your home. PM'ed you contact info.

 

I went through a similar situation a couple of years ago (08 I think- after recession). I had to get a statement from my employer stating that I was not likely to lose my job in next 12 months and my commission was expected to stay the same. That made a big difference but was with USAA who I had been with for 15 yrs. Btw- their mortgage loans suck. You deal with a new person each time and there are too many details in a mortgage to do that.

 

I also use usaa. Mainly for car insurance and car loans. Ive explored their mortgage quote tools, and for the house me and my family have our eye on, we are more than capable of the monthly payments (to include property taxes, homeowners insurance etc). Now, its not that the agent I spoke with said I would not get aproved for ANYTHING, it is just that with lenders looking at strictly my salary over my comission would significantly hurt me as far as how much they would be willing to lend, and in more or less words told me that to be considered for the loan amount I would need to wait another year or so. And again, my past 2 years of w2's are ****. Last year I was a full time student, and the year before I dealt with being layed off the beginning of the year and looking for work when most work in my field/pay range did not exist. I guess I will have to just call around and SEE what is out there and available to me.

 

Hey Ballerado, PM me your number and I'd be happy to help. I'm a branch manager with a community bank mortgage division and have dealt with this many times. It doesn't sound like your pay structure is what we would typically consider commission. It would definitely be worth a conversation.

 

Yes, my pay structure is NOT typical in the sense of it being "commission" based. Im shooting you a pm now.

 

ok, so Ballerado has a new house!! Who else wants to buy a house and quit throwing their money away? Congrats man! It was nice doing business with you!

 

Thanks again Scott!! So glad to be done with signing, cant wait until the 21st so I can start moving. Very happy we were able to make everything go as well as it did!

 

Congrats- that is a huge deal

 

Congrats! Buying a new house can be a headache!

 

Thanks guys! Well its not a "new" home, but new to me. Its a house in south shore harbour in league city. As far as it being a headache, yeah, tell me about it. It certainly didnt help working out of town working night shift!! But all is done now, very excited.

 

My wife and I are working with 99FRC currently on a home loan, hopefully, he can get us in a home as well.