Brad Flores · September 30, 2026

Self-Employed Lending — Mortgage Update for Realtors

Business Partner Update

Brad Flores

Brad Flores

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Self-Employed Lending — Mortgage Update for Realtors

Rate Snapshot · Week of September 29, 2026

▲ +0.31%

Conventional 30-Year

7.34%

FHA 30-Year

7.08%

VA 30-Year

7.01%

These are national average rates as of September 29, 2026. The 30-year fixed is at 7.34% — up 0.31% from last week, FHA at 7.08%, and VA at 7.01%. For exact rates tailored to your buyers, reach out to your loan officer directly.

From Your Lending Partner

Self-Employed Buyers Aren't Unbankable — They Just Need the Right Lender

Self-employed clients are one of the most overlooked buyer pools in real estate. Agents assume they're too hard to finance. That's not true — they just need a lender who knows the right programs. Traditional bank statement loans let us qualify buyers using 12–24 months of personal or business deposits instead of tax returns. This is a game changer for the business owner who writes off everything and shows minimal taxable income on paper. I've closed buyers who showed $40K in net income on their return but had $18K per month flowing through their accounts. We qualified them at the deposit level. There are also P&L-only programs, asset depletion loans, and 1099-based approvals. None of these are exotic — they're just less commonly offered. If you have a self-employed buyer who's been told "no" by their bank, send them my way before they give up. I can usually find a path forward within 48 hours.

Send me your self-employed buyer. I'll find the right program and pre-approve them fast.

Mortgage News Daily

New Home Sales Back in The Range After Uncommonly Big Bounce

The new home market returned to the longer-term range last month, with sales seeing their 4th biggest rebound in 4 years.  Sales of new single-family homes rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 684,000 in August, up 6.4% from July's revised 643,000 but 2.0% below the same month last year. The increase puts sales back above the 600,000 mark after July's pullback, although the broader tr

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HousingWire

Pending home sales are falling, but the slowdown isn’t hitting every market

Falling pending sales are revealing a more uneven housing market

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Mortgage News Daily

Pending Sales Rebound Slightly as Regional Results Diverge

Pending home sales edged higher in August as gains in the South and West offset declines in the Northeast and Midwest. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), which tracks signed contracts on existing homes, increased 0.3% from July but was down 4.7% from a year earlier. The modest increase came despite another period of elevated mortgage rates. NAR Chief Econo

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Did You Know?

Construction-to-Perm Loans

One loan from groundbreak to move-in.

For buyers building new, a construction-to-perm loan funds the build and converts to a permanent mortgage at completion — one application, one appraisal, one closing. No need to re-qualify when the home is done.

✓Lock the permanent rate at construction start
✓Interest-only during build phase keeps carrying costs low
✓Available for custom builds and spec homes
✓Works with most licensed general contractors

Share With Your Buyers

Preparing for Appraisal

1.

The appraisal protects both you and the lender — it's not an inspection, it's a value opinion.

2.

If the appraisal comes in low, you have options: renegotiate the price, dispute the appraisal, or pay the gap.

3.

Your lender orders the appraisal — you typically can't choose the appraiser, but you can review the report.

4.

Recent comparable sales drive appraisal value — your agent should provide the appraiser with the strongest comps.

5.

Cosmetic condition affects value — clean and declutter before the appraiser visits.

Tip of the Week

If you're self-employed, keeping clean financial records for two years makes mortgage qualification much smoother.

Your Mortgage Advisor

B

Brad Flores

Brad Flores

brad@bradflores.com

6613059689

1401 W. Rancho Vista Blvd Palmdale, CA 93551  ·  6613059689  ·  bradflores.com

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