Self employed loans - when being self employed is the impediment

Posted by Nick Niesen on November 8th, 2010

Being self employed has always been associated with challenges. Is finding a loan for self employed one of them? Is it? Well with loans for self employed suffer more from lack of information rather than lack of choices. Self employed people often complain of lack of information available when it comes to loans for self employed. Lenders will always offer you choices - it is their business. The fundamental issue remains making the right choice.

If you as an individual operate a business or profession as an owner or partner, is an independent contractor, independent consultant or someone in changeable employment, then you are considered self employed. Traditionally self employed loans have been associated with difficulty and high interest rates. However, with more and more people preferring work for themselves, self employed loans have become more flexible.

If you are a self employed with accounts worth three or more years and a good credit record, your loan application will be processed smoothly. You will stand on the same platform with any regular salary worker. Well if you do not conform to any of the above standard, expect that you are self employed; you can still find loans.

One thing that almost always goes against the self employed is that they are always negligent in filing their returns. The accounts understate the earnings of self employed. This is usually not very encouraging aspect especially while looking for loans for it cuts down the amount you can borrow as self employed loans.

Self certification mortgages are a way to secure mortgage loan for those who do not have required documents. The self employed certify for themselves without any recognized proof. Terms with these self employed loans are at times strict and interest rates high. Look for interest rates that suit your budget because they are possible.

Self employed loans will have down payment ranging from 20%-40%. Down payment serves to negate the risk for the lender while dealing with loans for self employed. Usually self employed people do not have a fixed income and also statistics fail to show a very promising figure about success of businesses. One out of five people shifting from employed to self employed fail. This puts self employed loans into the risk area. If a self employed is able to make substantial down payment, the loan lender will neglect any other negative aspect in the loan application.

Self-employed people are typically asked for two to three years of personal and business tax statements, depending on whether the individual is a partner or a proprietor. If you are a partner then the tax statements of the company, three years of general T1 tax returns and three years of personal notices of assessments. Some lenders will approve loans by a simple letter from your accountant.

Self employed borrowers often end up taking ?low doc? or ?no doc? loans. ?Low doc? self employed loans will require very little documents for verification. While ?no doc? loans, a self employed would necessitate no authentication of assets or documents. The cost for such loans for a self employed is interest rates. A home equity line of credit or HELOC is also possible for self employed. HELOC is priced at a spread to base interest rate.

Credit history is generally the yardstick to what flexibility a self employed is offered with loans. This will also has an influence on loan to value ratio which is 70%-90% for self employed loans. However, those self employed who have bad credit ratings also have an option. There are lenders who will give self employed loan with poor credit. Watch out for interest rates.

As you can see the choices are many for a self employed looking for loans. Because there are so many variations within self employed loans, it is advisable to search for considerable options while applying for self employed loans. Some prefer brokers to lenders to find self employed loans. However, lenders can search for online options to find the best deal. With self employed loans you won?t be penalized because you have chosen to have a certain kind of freedom ? the freedom to work on your own terms.