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How does income verification work for people that are FIRE?

Started by daposton, September 12, 2018, 06:29:54 PM

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daposton

When you are FIRE and are looking to rent your primary residence or purchase a new home (investment or primary), how do you handle the income verification step.  I was thinking that I would use a vague job title like "investor" and use my passive income data from my paper investments (Vanguard pre & post tax).

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Sam

You would basically show your assets, such as your savings and investment accounts to prove that you are credit worthy. You can always show your credit report and credit score as well.

For banks, no income makes it very hard to qualify. So they use asset-based lending. But you need a ton of assets to qualify compared to someone with just an income and little assets.

Passive income definitely counts as income, but banks generally discount that income versus W-2 income.
Regards,

Sam

Eric

Buying a primary residence on a mortgage is hard, but why do it if you are already FIREd? You want to either own outright or rent. Borrowing money and hoping investments do well to cover your mortgage is dangerous.

Renting does make sense in some markets - particularly if you envision location moves or your market makes more sense to rent than buy. Rental checks are less ownerous than mortgages with rental companies relying on credit score and stated income (no verification). Others allow for a net worth option to qualify which works well for FIRE.


TravelGirl

I do rent an apartment in TX and they require proof of income or that you have 3+ months of rent in some sort of account.  For me I just showed them part of what is in my investment account, no need to disclose all the information.  You can always transfer it to your bank account and then back, but that to me is a pain.

I rent because I tend to get restless and move every 4 years or so.  It isn't enough time to reap any rewards from ownership.  I also travel a lot and I know that the apartment management keeps an eye of things while I'm away.