Banker helps single mother working two jobs get mortgage
Mortgage broker: Chris Bartlett
Purchase process: $305,000
Loan amount: $ 289,750
Loan terms: 30-year fixed 5% down conventional mortgage
Backstory: A single mother working as nurse at two different assisted living facilities recently contacted me. She had been denied a mortgage to purchase a single-family home because she had only been at her second job for 18 months.
Because she did not have a full two-year work history working her second job — as is required when qualifying for a conventional mortgage — only the income from one of the jobs could be counted, making her debt-toincome ratio too high for approval for the mortgage.
Initially, I thought there was nothing I could do to help her as the guideline is clear but as we started talking more, she explained to me she works approximately 20 hours at one facility each week and 20 hours at the other. She does this because the hours/shifts she can work at each facility accommodates her schedule as a single mother and allows her to be home each day when her daughter is through with her after school program.
It was not a situation where she could obtain a straight 40hour per week job. With her life situation, however, she can still get that many hours with two jobs in separate facilities. In addition, both jobs essentially paid the same hourly rate.
With this information, I decided if we could obtain a letter from each employer stating that she was guaranteed a minimum of 20 hours per week at the same rate so we could make the case that her two part-time jobs essentially equated to one full-time job.
I also had her write a detailed letter explaining that she was a single mom and detailing how her schedules at the two facilities make it possible for her to be home for her daughter and save her money she would otherwise have to pay in childcare.
We submitted her application with the employer’s letters and the explanation letters and were able to obtain a mortgage approval for her using the income from both employers based on a 40-hour work week. She closed on the house a few weeks later.
If the story makes sense and it can be supported by documentation, telling can get your mortgage approved.