Many traveling nurse practitioners I know have given up their homes for a life on the road. They put the majority of their things in storage and pack up their car with the essentials. When they go back home for the holidays or vacation, they will typically stay with relatives or rent a hotel.
My situation is a bit different, in which I still have my home in Miami. I own my home with my sister, so we split the mortgage. I prefer to have a place to stay in case I feel like taking a month off in between assignments. Plus, I am close to my family and like to visit every 2 months or less. I also like keeping my items in one place so I can easily switch them out when I am home. Our mortgage is small, my half is the equivalent of a car payment.
We recently moved to another house closer to my sisters work in Miami. And we rented out our first property. The new house is under both of our names, but I am the only one on the mortgage. To qualify for the mortgage, I had to work continuously before closing because the bank wanted to see proof of income.
Initially, the process of obtaining a mortgage was challenging. Most large banks didn’t want to consider both my 1099 and W2 income as a qualification for the mortgage. It was one or the other. I eventually found some smaller mortgage lenders that were able to consider both incomes or even considered my 6 months of W2 enough income for the year.
Unfortunately, the larger banks thought of me as a high risk. After the 2007 mortgage crisis, it is no secret that qualifying for a mortgage is tougher than it’s ever been. The fact that my income isn’t consistent – some years I work more as a 1099 contractor, other years more as a W2 employee; scares them. The fact that I can deduct so many expenses being a traveler, lowers my adjusted gross income. I realized that this benefits me during tax season, but not so much when trying to qualify for a house.
They didn’t care that I had $0 in debt, no expenses, nor that I could make enough money to pay my mortgage in 2 days of working per month.
In this scenario, I had to write a letter explaining why I decided to work as a 1099 contractor at times (better locations or higher pay). In addition, my broker made me write a letter explaining my career and the demand for it. It even helped that I had 6 months of upcoming contracts in place. I was able to show proof of longevity.
It definitely helped that we were able to put 25% down on the house as well.
Thus, if you are considering purchasing a property in the distant future, my advice is to:
- Save enough money for a 20% down payment.
- Try to be aware of how much you are deducting at tax time. If your income in $120,000 but after deductions becomes $80,000 that might not help you qualify for a decent house in the future.
- Use Fairway Mortgage. I have recommended them before and luckily, they consider both W2 and 1099 income so save yourself the hassle of qualifying with someone else. They have programs specifically for nurse practitioners.
Note: It is easy to get pre-qualified by any bank, but once it’s time to approve you for the loan that’s when they become strict.
I was able to use Comp Health as my employer – they even verified I was their employee when I was in between assignments from them. They were so sweet, they even sent me a house warming gift!
Anyways, I just wanted to share my experience obtaining a mortgage as a traveling nurse practitioner. If you need help with the process in the future, feel free to send me an email!
