Mortgage Financing for Independent Contractors and Self-Employed Construction Pros in Chesapeake, VA

Scan the options below, pick the one that matches how your income is documented right now, and go straight to that guide. If you're not sure yet, the orientation below will get you there in two minutes.

What to know before you choose a loan path

Most Chesapeake contractors run into the same wall: two years of tax returns show modest net income after legitimate business deductions, and a conventional underwriter counts exactly that number—not what actually hit your account. The fix isn't to stop writing off expenses. The fix is to use a loan program built around how you actually get paid.

The four paths, and who each one fits:

• Bank statement mortgage — Best fit if you've been self-employed at least two years, your gross deposits are strong, and your write-offs are the main qualification problem. Lenders review 12–24 months of personal or business bank statements and build an income figure from deposits, not from Schedule C net income. Rates run 1–2 percentage points above conventional in 2026. Minimum FICO typically 620–640; most lenders want 680+ for best pricing.
• 1099-only / alternative-doc mortgage — Designed for contractors paid entirely on 1099s who can document income without full tax returns. Some alt-doc mortgage programs accept a CPA-signed P&L plus 12 months of bank statements in lieu of two years of returns. Useful if you had a strong recent year but a weaker prior year that would drag your two-year average down.
• FHA loan — Works if your taxable income (after write-offs) is high enough to qualify at the program's debt-to-income ceiling of 43–50% of gross monthly income. Minimum FICO 580 with 3.5% down; 500–579 with 10% down. Requires full tax returns, so heavy write-offs typically knock contractors out of this path. Worth checking if your net income is closer to your gross than most construction owners.
• Conventional loan — Fannie/Freddie guidelines require a minimum 620–640 FICO and use two-year average Schedule C or K-1 income. If you've been intentionally reducing write-offs for one to two years in preparation for buying, this is the lowest-rate path—conventional programs don't carry the 1–2 point premium of non-QM products.

The numbers that separate approval from denial:

Factor	Bank Statement / Non-QM	Conventional / FHA
Income documentation	12–24 months bank statements	2 years tax returns + W-2s or 1099s
Minimum FICO	620 (680+ for best rates)	620–640
Cash reserves required	6–12 months of mortgage payments	2–6 months typical
Rate vs. conventional	+1–2 points	Baseline
DTI ceiling	43–50%	43–50%

What trips contractors up most:

The biggest mistake is applying at a retail bank without checking whether they offer non-QM products. Most large banks don't. A broker or non-QM specialty lender is usually the right starting point for construction business owners. Self-employed borrowers carrying significant business write-offs will find the same qualification strategies useful whether they're in Chesapeake or working with lenders serving markets like Albuquerque or Arlington, TX—the documentation logic is national even when local market conditions vary.

Cash reserves matter more in non-QM underwriting than most borrowers expect. Non-QM lenders typically require 6–12 months of mortgage payments sitting in liquid accounts at closing. If your cash is tied up in equipment or receivables, that's the thing to solve first.

For contractors whose income volatility stems from seasonal project cycles—common in Hampton Roads construction—lenders will sometimes average deposits across a longer statement window or accept a CPA letter explaining the pattern. The same income irregularity that derails W-2-focused underwriting is a routine documentation challenge for self-employed borrowers across trades and gig-adjacent work, and lenders in the non-QM space have built products around it.

Credit score positioning also shifts the math significantly. A score at 680 versus 720 can move your rate by a meaningful margin on a bank statement loan—more than on a conventional product. Pull your report before applying and check for errors, which appear on roughly 1 in 5 consumer credit reports.

Choose the guide that matches your documentation situation and pick up the detail there.