Do I need two years in business for a bank statement loan?
The full answer
A bank statement loan reads 12 or 24 months of business or personal deposits, applies an expense factor (often 40–60%), and uses the result as your qualifying income. The statement window and the business-history requirement are related but distinct: a lender may want two years of self-employment but only 12 months of statements, or vice versa.
Some non-QM lenders will work with a one-year business history when compensating factors are strong — good credit, meaningful reserves, a 15–20% down payment, or prior W-2 experience doing the same work. Because these are portfolio products, each lender sets its own overlays, so the answer genuinely varies.
A 24-month statement window also helps seasonal businesses by averaging busy and slow months, which can produce a higher, steadier qualifying income than a 12-month snapshot.
Related questions
- Can I get a mortgage without tax returns?
- What is an expense factor on a bank statement loan?
- How many years do you need to be self-employed to get a mortgage?
Sources
Educational information only — not financial advice, and not a quote, pre-approval, or offer of credit. Program rules and ranges are illustrative and vary by lender. Mortgage Merlin is a publisher, not a lender or broker.