03/20

If you’re a self-employed, freelance, or contract worker – things just got a lot easier for you to qualify for a mortgage.

Head honcho mortgage giants, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, have updated changes to an automated system that should now help freelancers not only qualify for a mortgage, but to also get these employees into the home of their dreams faster.

Before, a lender might ask for extra paperwork – turning an already laborious process into a grueling one. Even after all the necessary paperwork is submitted, the self-employed client still might not qualify for “steady” income or face extra fees once their approved.

With this new change, “optical character recognition technology,” will help read tax returns and identify what qualifies as eligible income to integrate the information into both companies’ electronic underwriting systems.

Essentially, this stops lenders from having to look over every single detail themselves and actually presents them the information they need in a matter of minutes. The system is quick and reduces the risk of error for the lender.

About one out of every 10 people are self-employed as of 2015 – which means it’s time lenders and financial gurus work out how to include this large section of the population into the real estate world.