Real Mortgage Success Stories

Retired in Florida, Buying in Pennsylvania — and His IRA Made the Difference

The Challenge

A retired borrower living in Florida wanted to purchase a second home in Pennsylvania to be closer to his family.

His income came from several sources, including Social Security, investments, and retirement income. However, when his qualifying income was calculated using traditional guidelines, his debt-to-income ratio was too high to qualify.

How Garber Mortgage Team Found a Solution

As an independent mortgage broker, we have access to multiple wholesale lenders, each with different programs and underwriting guidelines.

We identified a lender that allowed us to use the borrower’s existing IRA assets to calculate additional qualifying income through an asset-depletion program.

The key advantage? We were able to derive qualifying income from his IRA without requiring him to establish withdrawals or take distributions from the account.

That additional qualifying income helped bring his debt-to-income ratio within the lender’s guidelines.

Why It Matters to Realtors

A buyer who doesn’t qualify with one lender may have options with another. Understanding specialized income-qualification programs can make the difference between losing a transaction and helping a buyer achieve their goal.

Strong Business, Thin Tax Return — and a Way to Qualify

The Challenge

A self-employed borrower had strong business receipts but modest taxable income because business deductions reduced the income shown on their tax returns.

The borrower could not qualify for a home purchase through traditional financing and did not qualify under available bank statement programs either.

How Garber Mortgage Team Found a Solution

We placed the loan with a wholesale lender offering a gross-receipts program, which evaluates eligible business receipts rather than relying solely on the net income shown on the tax return.

Why It Matters to Realtors

Some self-employed buyers may not qualify using traditional tax-return income calculations. Knowing which lenders offer alternative qualification programs can help keep those buyers in the market.

Unsourced Deposits Didn’t Sink This Investment Deal

The Challenge

A real estate investor encountered financing difficulties because of unsourced large deposits that did not meet the documentation requirements of the original lending approach.

How Garber Mortgage Team Found a Solution

We structured the financing through an LLC using a DSCR-based loan and identified a wholesale lender whose specific guidelines could accommodate the unsourced deposits. This flexibility was unique to that lender and is not a general DSCR exemption.

Why It Matters to Realtors

Investment-property financing often requires specialized lender knowledge. Understanding differences in DSCR programs and lender-specific documentation requirements can help find solutions for challenging transactions.

Non-Warrantable Condo — One Week Before Settlement

The Challenge

Just one week before settlement, the buyer’s original lender discovered that the condominium was non-warrantable and did not meet standard conventional project eligibility requirements. With settlement approaching, the transaction was suddenly at risk.

How Garber Mortgage Team Saved the Loan

We stepped in and sourced an alternate wholesale lender that approved the loan without requiring a condo project review and accepted the existing appraisal through a transfer, avoiding the need to start the valuation process over.

Why It Matters to Realtors

When a lender discovers a problem at the last minute, Realtors need a mortgage partner who knows where to turn. Access to multiple wholesale lenders with different guidelines can provide solutions that keep challenging transactions moving toward settlement.