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Self-employed? How to get a mortgage

Being your own boss can come with a host of perks such as setting your own dress code (read: pajamas), a flexible schedule and a cubicle-less existence. But one financial benefit — tax write-offs — morphs into an ugly disadvantage when self-employed workers try to get a mortgage.

Could Paying Off Your Mortgage Hurt Your Credit?

Imagine, then, the disappointment to learn that your credit scores have gone down, not up, as a result of making that final mortgage payment. Dale commented that his credit score seems to have been hurt by the fact that he paid off his mortgage years ago, and Mel complained that his scores dropped by over 70 points after he paid off his mortgage and another loan. The answer to the second …

Buying a home is easier if you're white

Black and Hispanic borrowers who apply for a conventional mortgage are denied twice as often as whites who apply for the same loans, according to Zillow.

Self-employed? Here's how to get a mortgage

Borrowers typically have to provide two years' worth of tax returns, which often don't accurately reflect the take-home pay of self-employed people. “How we qualify self-employed doesn't always agree with how the IRS says you can run your business legally,” says Pava Leyrer, training and development manager at Northern Mortgage Services in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Self-employed people can take …