Getting a Mortgage Loan As a Self-Employed Individual

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New Jersey-based mortgage executive Julie Mealo serves as a senior home loan consultant at Valley National Bank. In this capacity, she provides home loans to borrowers in numerous cities, including Avalon, Ocean City, Sea Isle City, Stone Harbor, and other places along the East Coast and in Pennsylvania. Possessing upwards of three decades of experience, Julie Mealo is particularly skilled in working with self-employed borrowers.

Self-employed borrowers typically have more complicated tax returns, often with multiple entities. Passive loss carryovers and depreciation often are significant factors in income calculation.

To obtain a mortgage, self-employed individuals must usually have a lot more documentation than W-2 workers. This includes at least 2 years of federal personal tax returns and all associated tax schedules, along with business income tax returns for at least 2 years if the applicant is part of a partnership or corporation. On top of this, borrowers often need a copy of their business license and proof from a licensed CPA that the applicant’s business has been operating for at least 2 years.

It is also common for business owners to have to sign personally for business debt, and understanding how to separate the loans paid by the business and signed for personally can be important in qualifying.

Income isn’t the only factor that affects mortgage approval for self-employed individuals. Once they apply for a loan, lenders will also consider their credit scores and debt-to-income ratios. Ideally, an applicant’s debt-to-income ratio should be no higher than 43 percent. This shows that the applicant has plenty of income to cover mortgage payments. Meanwhile, credit scores are affected by credit utilization ratios and indicate whether a person is a safe borrower or not. While many factors are considered in qualifying self employed borrowers such as assets, reserves, and income, high credit scores also are significant in obtaining loan approval.

Wetlands Institute of Stone Harbor Marks its 50th Anniversary

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Julie Mealo serves as a senior home loan consultant for Valley National Bank. Working with buyers in such New Jersey towns as Stone Harbor, Ocean City, Avalon, and Sea Isle City, Julie Mealo supports the Wetlands Institute of Stone Harbor.

The institute was founded in 1969 to address rising levels of pollution, depletion of commercial and recreational fishing, and development’s threat to wetlands. Today it leads efforts to learn more about these fragile ecosystems and conserve them for future generations. 

Starting in 1967, the institute’s founder, Herbert Mills of the World Wildlife Fund, obtained around 10 square miles of bay area and mainland acreage in the Cape May area. These lands are now worth about $5 million in today’s dollars. This territory and later additions became the Cape May Wetlands Wildlife Management Area. Thirty-five acres of it are dedicated to the institute’s research facility, classrooms, auditorium, and aquarium.

For many years Lehigh University maintained a field station here, conducting hundreds of studies of plant and animal life in the tidal basins around Cape May. Many students presented their research findings about shore birds, diamondback terrapins, and other creatures. Events to mark the organization's 50th anniversary include no-admission-fee days on the first Wednesdays of June through September and open houses on selected weekends.