Who we help
Mortgage for a Home Services Business Owner
Your HVAC company runs at $1.4M in revenue. After payroll, fuel, parts, the truck fleet, and a Section 179 write-off on the new compressor, your Schedule C shows $90K. Your business checking has $310K averaged across the year. The lender at your local bank looked at the $90K and said no to a $600K mortgage on a four-bedroom you've watched the family outgrow.
By Sunrise Lending
Why this fits you
The Home Services world — HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, landscaping, restoration, cleaning, dozens of trades — runs on real cash flow buried under strategic depreciation and equipment write-offs. Sunrise's bank statement programs qualify you on 24 months of business deposits, the income evidence that actually reflects how your trade pays.
Most home-services owners fit a 24-month bank statement program. Owners who also run rental property may qualify for DSCR on the investment side. The matcher reads how your income is structured in five questions and surfaces the path most likely to fund.
Common income structures we see
- 24 months of business bank statement deposits
- Schedule C with significant Section 179 / depreciation write-offs
- Personal-account deposits for sole-prop trades
- DSCR on rental property held alongside the operating business
- P&L for contractors with complex deposit patterns or multiple accounts
Best-fit loan programs
How Sunrise analyzes your income
The home services world has the most mismatch between real income and tax-return income of any business category. An HVAC contractor with $1.6M in revenue runs a truck fleet, employs three technicians, and takes Section 179 on the new heat-pump equipment every year. After payroll, fuel, parts, the fleet write-off, and a strategic depreciation schedule that his CPA has optimized over 10 years, the Schedule C shows $85K. His bank account averages $68K/month. The bank looked at the $85K and said no.
The bank statement program reads the $68K. Sunrise applies a 50% expense factor — the assumption that roughly half your deposits go to operating costs — and arrives at $34,000/month in qualifying income. If your CPA has documented an actual expense ratio lower than 50% (say, 38% in a strong-margin year), a CPA letter increases the qualifying income further. Most home-services operators find the 50% default produces a qualifying income well above what the Schedule C ever showed.
For home-services owners who also hold rental property alongside the operating business, DSCR is the clean solution for the investment side. The property qualifies on its own rental cash flow — completely separate from the business file. Some owner-investors run a bank-statement first mortgage on their primary residence simultaneously with a DSCR investment property purchase.
What the file actually looks like.
The industries that fit this path include: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, landscaping, painting, flooring, restoration, cleaning, drywall, masonry, fencing, pest control, pool service, lawn care, tree service, handyman, carpentry, concrete, and any other trade where real cash flow is buried under equipment write-offs and payroll costs that the Schedule C captures but the bank statement corrects for.
Scenario examples
Plumbing contractor, Houston TX
A plumber with a 4-person crew ran $920K in gross revenue. Schedule C net after materials, labor, van write-offs, and equipment depreciation: $78K. Business checking averaged $42K/month. At 50% expense factor, qualifying income was $21,000/month — enough to support a $520K purchase with 20% down. His accountant had optimized the tax return so well that conventional underwriting would have given him a $225K loan ceiling on his actual reported income.
- Annual revenue
- $920K
- Schedule C net
- $78K/yr
- Avg monthly deposits
- $42K
- Qualifying income
- $21,000/mo
Illustrative scenario. Not a commitment to lend.
Roofing company + rental property, Phoenix AZ
A roofing business owner ran a bank-statement primary residence purchase simultaneously with a DSCR investment purchase. His roofing company averaged $58K/month in deposits (50% = $29K qualifying). On the rental side, a signed lease at $1,950/month against $1,400 PITIA produced a DSCR of 1.39. Both files closed within 10 days of each other.
- Bank statement qualifying income
- $29,000/mo
- Rental DSCR
- 1.39
- Primary purchase
- Bank statement path
- Investment purchase
- DSCR path
Illustrative scenario. Not a commitment to lend.
Common questions
Common questions
- How does a trades business owner qualify for a mortgage?
- Via a bank statement loan — the lender uses 24 months of business deposits, applies a 50% expense factor, and arrives at monthly qualifying income. Section 179 write-offs, equipment depreciation, and payroll that depress the Schedule C do not reduce the bank-statement qualifying income.
- My Schedule C shows much less than I actually earn. Can I still qualify?
- Yes — that's exactly what bank statement programs are built for. If your deposits substantially exceed your Schedule C net, the bank statement program qualifies on the deposits, not the tax return. Most home-services owners see a meaningful income lift versus their reported Schedule C.
- What if I own both a business and rental properties?
- The operating business qualifies on the bank statement program for a primary residence. Investment properties can qualify on DSCR — the property's rental income vs. PITIA, completely separate from your personal income. Some owners run both paths simultaneously.
- Can I use a CPA letter to increase my qualifying income?
- Yes. The 50% expense factor is a default assumption. If your CPA can document that your actual expense ratio is lower — say, 38% — the lender accepts the documented ratio and qualifying income increases accordingly.
- What bank statements do I need to gather?
- 24 months of all business bank accounts that receive deposits. If your deposits are split across multiple accounts for operational reasons, all are aggregated. Personal accounts that primarily receive business deposits may also be included depending on the program.
- Does being a sole proprietor vs. LLC affect my ability to qualify?
- Not materially for bank statement programs. Both entity types qualify. Sole props typically have a single account; LLCs may have multiple. The key is that all deposit-receiving accounts are included in the statement package.
Related resources
Tell us how you earn.
Five quick questions. No tax returns. No credit pull. The matcher narrows you to the right starting point; a licensed mortgage officer reviews before anything moves.
Sunrise Lending · Equal Housing Opportunity. Matching rules are written and reviewed by licensed mortgage professionals. All loan decisions are made by licensed mortgage professionals. Not a commitment to lend. Loan approval subject to underwriting guidelines. This is not financial advice.