• How do lenders calculate DTI for self-employed buyers?

    Posted by Elmoustahyi Abdallah on November 7, 2026 at 7:13 pm

    I’ve noticed a lot of confusion among self-employed buyers about how lenders calculate their income for DTI purposes. Unlike W-2 employees, self-employed borrowers often face stricter scrutiny. Lenders typically use a 2-year average of net income (after deductions) from tax returns, which can be much lower than gross revenue.

    For those who have gone through this: what was your experience? Did you have to provide additional documentation (like bank statements or profit & loss statements)? And how did it affect your pre-approval amount?

    If you want to calculate your exact DTI and see how lenders will view your income, I built a free, privacy-first calculator that runs 100% in your browser (no sign-up, no data tracking). You can check it out here: https://smartmortgagecalc.space/true-cost

    Elmoustahyi Abdallah replied 8 hours, 14 minutes ago 1 Member · 0 Replies
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