OnlyFans Content Creator? Let’s get you a house.
As I was working on a file last week, going through the documents gave me the familiar feeling that my client was a creator on certain adult platforms, who perhaps didn’t feel comfortable sharing that. I get it — the work is stigmatized in some circles, and the job I do leans heavily ‘male with a certain personality type’ who may not be someone to whom you’d want to divulge that info. As you will find is typical for me if we work together, I elected to just be straightforward with her that I knew and did not care at all, which we both had a good laugh about. In my time doing several loans for performers in the industry, I have learned a few tricks:
Not all mortgage investors are going to be cool with it. Which is totally fine, since I am a broker who can just say, “On to the next one!” and move your loan to a different lender. A good broker knows which of their investors will see Fenix Internet and dig into the 1099 issuer, versus who will move along without extra layers of investigating.
You are self-employed. Being a 1099 contractor is considered self employment according to the mortgage underwriting guidelines. My position is to advocate for my clients that they should not be treated any differently than any other self-employed person; which does mean you have to meet the same guidelines and documentation requirements. Generally, we will need a 2 year history of self employment, unless we can document prior employment in a similar field with earnings at a comparable level. That is going to be less common here than, say, a plumber who used to work for a company then branched out on his own. Not impossible, and alternative loan programs exist if necessary, but it may be more challenging.
Your lifestyle can be a write off — but don’t get crazy! It’s hard for any self-employed person to draw the line between personal expenses paid after tax and business expenses paid by the company as part of your compensation. Keep in mind that things you write off against your business income are generally going to reduce your qualifying income, unless they are considered depreciation/amortization or mileage. Our debt-to-income ratio requirements are based on the assumption that you need personal income to pay your personal living expenses. If those are all paid from the business to show a lower income, there is not an easy way to add your rent/mortgage, utilities, etc. back into the qualifying income that will be available to pay your mortgage. (Unless we go with a bank statement loan, which just has a slightly higher rate.)
We have to independently verify your employment. A mistake I made the first time I worked with someone in the industry: I decided if she didn’t want to bring it up, I wouldn’t either. Then, three days before closing, the underwriter called to inform me they couldn’t complete the final loan approval because her business didn’t exist anywhere online for that final proof of employment. Whoops, now I know better! The options are generally going to be: printing to pdf a website showing that the business is currently operational for the loan package, providing a letter from your accountant, or supplying a recent invoice within 10 days of closing showing the business is receiving income. That last one will be your best bet, but I do advise my clients in the field to check their work schedule to make sure that’s feasible. Everyone involved in your loan is a professional who has done this before, but I do want you to have privacy in a financial transaction. So, beaming a date-stamped photo of you actively performing to every person who will be processing your loan is not the route I want for my people!
To the reader who is now curious and considering spamming my contact form asking for names — No, I will not be providing any of them. Call me weird, but I don’t even like to post closing photos of my clients, as in my mind it crosses the line of their right to privacy on financial matters. If you think I’m sending you an instagram handle for salacious purposes, as my mom would say, “you must be outta your mind!”
