I’m Michael DiVita — DRE #01372066 | NMLS #241655, DiVita Home Finance (DRE #01818285 | NMLS #323700), Tiburon, CA. I’ve been in California mortgage lending since 2000 and founded DiVita Home Finance in 2007. Consultants are a regular part of my practice — 1099 and bank statement programs solve the documentation problem cleanly. Call (800) 239-1103.
Consultants in California — whether in management, technology, finance, HR, or any other field — typically earn strong income but face the same mortgage documentation challenge as any other self-employed professional: the income on your tax return does not reflect what you actually earn.
The Consultant Income Structure
Most independent consultants receive project fees or retainer payments documented on 1099s. They then write off home office, travel, software subscriptions, professional development, and other business costs. The IRS sees a fraction of gross consulting revenue as taxable income. So does a conventional mortgage lender — which means a management consultant billing $300,000/year but showing $175,000 net after deductions gets qualified on the $175,000 by a conventional lender. Non-QM lenders look at the gross instead.
Best Options for Consultants
1099 Loan
Your most direct path if you have consistent 1099 income from multiple clients or one major client. The lender uses your gross 1099 earnings before any deductions as qualifying income. A management consultant billing $300,000/year but netting $175,000 after deductions qualifies on $300,000 — not $175,000. Two years of 1099s showing consistent or growing gross income is a strong non-QM file. See: 1099 loan guide.
Bank Statement Loan
If you operate through a business entity (LLC, S-corp) and your clients pay the entity, a bank statement loan averages your business deposits over 12 or 24 months. Works particularly well for consultants with retainer income that hits the account on predictable dates each month — the averaging captures your real cash flow cleanly. See: Bank statement loan guide.
P&L Only Loan
Consultants who work with a CPA and maintain clean books can use a P&L only loan — a 12-month profit and loss statement prepared and signed by a licensed CPA is the income documentation. Simplest structure if your CPA already produces monthly financials. See: P&L loan guide.
What Consultants Typically Need to Qualify
Most programs require 1–2 years of 1099s or 12–24 months of bank statements; evidence of active consulting work (contracts, engagement letters, or recent invoices); a minimum 620 FICO score (700+ for best terms); and a 10–15% down payment on a primary residence. If you’ve been consulting for less than 2 years but were previously employed in the same field, many lenders will accept the combination of prior employment history plus the shorter consulting timeline.
Frequently Asked Questions — Mortgage for Consultants California
Can an independent consultant get a mortgage without showing tax return income?
Yes — through 1099 loans and bank statement loans. A 1099 loan qualifies on gross 1099 income without adjusting for Schedule C deductions. A bank statement loan uses 12 or 24 months of your actual business deposits instead of tax returns. Both programs are specifically designed for self-employed borrowers whose tax returns understate their real earning power due to legitimate business deductions. Many California consultants who’ve been denied by conventional lenders because of their Schedule C have qualified easily on a 1099 or bank statement program. I match the program to your specific income structure.
What if my consulting income varies significantly month to month?
Variable income is manageable on a bank statement or 1099 loan because both programs average income over 12 or 24 months — smoothing out seasonal peaks and slow periods. The key is that the overall trend should be stable or growing, not declining. If you have one or two exceptional months surrounded by much lower months, the average may understate your true run rate — in which case I’d look at whether the most recent 12-month period is stronger than the 24-month average and use whichever produces better qualifying income. Project-based consulting with large, lumpy payments works best with longer averaging periods.
How much can a California consultant borrow for a home mortgage?
It depends on your qualifying income and program. On a 1099 loan, a consultant with $250,000 in gross annual 1099 income qualifies on roughly $20,833/month — at a 43% DTI, that supports a payment of approximately $8,958/month, enough for a $1.1M–$1.4M loan at current rates. Higher-billing consultants in technology or finance billing $400,000–$600,000 gross can qualify for significantly larger Bay Area jumbo loans. The exact number depends on your income documentation, credit score, and debt picture — I model both 1099 and bank statement scenarios to identify the best qualifying amount for your file.
Related: Self-employed mortgage hub | 1099 loans | Bank statement loans
Talk to Michael Directly
DiVita Home Finance | Tiburon, CA | In lending since 2000, founded DiVita Home Finance in 2007. Michael DiVita DRE #01372066 | NMLS #241655. Company DRE #01818285 | NMLS #323700.
💬 Text: (310) 849-9124
