Find the mortgage built for your income
Self-employed, 1099, newcomer, investor, veteran or rural buyer — pick your situation and compare the loan types that actually fit, with live rates and what you’ll need to qualify.
Neutral comparison · 9 loan typesBank statement
Conventional
Asset depletion
Jumbo
Read the full self-employed mortgage guide →
Not sure which fits? Take the 5-question quiz →
Built for your situation
Whatever your income looks like, there’s a path — and a guide written for it.
Every dollar you write off is a dollar lenders stop counting.
On $180,000 of gross income, more write-offs mean a smaller mortgage.
Illustrative estimate, not a quote. 36% DTI · 6.58% · 30-yr.
Your income doesn’t fit the box. There’s a loan that does.
Tap your situation.
Bank-statement loan
Qualify on 12–24 months of deposits — your write-offs don’t shrink the income that counts.
Tools built for your income
The calculators incumbents don’t have — because they crack open how underwriters actually count non-traditional income.
Where rates are heading
Twelve months of Freddie Mac PMMS weekly averages — conventional, bank-statement and FHA.
Scrub the rate outlook.
Drag across the curve to read the rate and your payment.
Illustrative sample projection — not a forecast or a quote.
Conventional & 15-yr from Freddie Mac PMMS; FHA, VA, USDA & jumbo from Optimal Blue (live). Non-QM (bank-statement, P&L, DSCR, ITIN) are estimated from market spreads — not personalized quotes.
Neutral guidance, every lender type
We don’t rank by who pays us. We map your income to the products that fit — across the whole market.
Independent editorial
Advertisers never review, approve or influence our guides.
Primary-source data
Sourced to CFPB, HUD, Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac.
No cold calls
Read and estimate freely. Connect only when you choose.
Nine loan types
Conventional to non-QM — compared honestly, side by side.
Lenders we compare: Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions · Carrington Mortgage Services · Griffin Funding · Guild Mortgage · Kiavi · LendingOne · Lima One Capital · New American Funding · PennyMac · Rocket Mortgage · Veterans United · Visio Lending — see who offers what →
Guides & expert content
Plain-English, built on CFPB, HUD, Fannie Mae & IRS sources. Start where you’re stuck.
Self-employedBank statement loans, explained
What 12–24 months of deposits really need to show.
10991099 & freelance mortgage, explained
Qualify on two years of 1099s — without W-2s.
ITIN & newcomerITIN mortgage: buy a home without an SSN
How ITIN holders qualify, what programs exist, and the path to refinancing.
Gig & freelanceFreelancer & gig worker mortgage guide
Upwork, Fiverr, Uber, DoorDash — how platform income earners qualify.
Estimate it in thirty seconds
Slide your numbers and switch loan types — no email, no credit pull.
Illustrative: 36% DTI, 30-yr term at the selected sample rate. Not a pre-approval, quote, or financial advice.
Questions, answered plainly
Yes. Lenders typically want two years of history, but bank-statement and non-QM loans exist specifically for borrowers whose tax returns understate their real income.
Conventional lenders qualify you on net income after deductions, so heavy write-offs lower the number you qualify on. Bank-statement loans qualify you on deposits instead.
Usually 0.75–2% above conventional, because they're non-QM. That spread is an illustrative editorial estimate, not a quoted rate — no regulator publishes a non-QM premium, and some lender-published figures run higher. The trade-off is qualifying on income a conventional lender won't count.
No. Mortgage Merlin is educational and is not a lender or broker. Confirm specifics with a licensed professional before deciding.
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