Every way to buy a house.

The options

• Cash. The strongest offer in any negotiation and the fastest close, typically two to three weeks. The hidden cost is what the cash stops doing: liquidating investments can trigger capital gains and forfeit growth, which is exactly the situation asset-based lending was built for.
• Conventional and jumbo financing. The standard path for W-2 buyers with documented income. In this market most purchases above roughly $806,500 are jumbo loans, which carry tighter documentation but competitive rates for strong files.
• Bank statement loans. For the self-employed buyer who writes off aggressively and shows little taxable income: qualification runs on 12 or 24 months of actual bank deposits instead of tax returns. The classic fit is the business owner whose lifestyle is prosperous and whose Schedule C is not.
• Asset qualifier loans. Qualification from liquid assets, with no income requirement at all, and without liquidating anything beyond closing funds. Checking, brokerage, retirement accounts, even crypto can count. Built for high-net-worth buyers, recent business sellers and retirees.
• DSCR loans, for investors. The investment property qualifies on its own rental income; the buyer's personal income never enters the calculation. Short-term-rental revenue projections can be used, closes run fast, and title can be taken in an LLC.
• 1099 loans. For independent contractors, commissioned salespeople and gig workers: qualification on 1099 gross receipts, one or two years, without full tax-return underwriting. Real estate agents themselves use this one.
• Third-party P&L loans. A CPA-prepared profit and loss statement carries the qualification for business owners whose returns are complex or not yet filed.
• Written verification of employment. The lender verifies income directly with the employer, streamlining files where paystubs and W-2s lag a new position. Pairs with the just-changed-jobs situation that stalls conventional files.
• ITIN programs. Home financing for buyers who live and work in the U.S. with an Individual Tax ID instead of a Social Security number.
• Foreign national programs. Second homes and investment property for buyers who live outside the U.S., no domestic credit history required.
• 1031 exchange. For investors moving between investment properties: capital gains deferred by reinvesting through a qualified intermediary, with hard 45-day identification and 180-day closing clocks. Not for primary residences, and the clock starts whether you are ready or not.
• Buy before you sell programs. Financing that lets a homeowner with equity purchase the next home first and sell the current one after, without a contingency weakening the offer. Pairs with the sequencing math on the sell-first-or-buy-first page.
• Non-warrantable condo loans. Condos that fail agency rules, low reserves, one owner holding many units, hotel-style features, can still be financed through non-QM programs. Relevant in Old Town, where a meaningful share of buildings trips at least one agency rule.