Shelton Mortgage Team powered by Edge Home Finance, LLC | Neil Shelton, NMLS 1668076 Company NMLS 891464 | Not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency. All loans subject to credit, underwriting approval, and lender requirements. Terms, conditions, and programs may change without notice. This is not a commitment to lend or extend credit. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Non-QM Loans: Bank Statement, DSCR & More
Explore Non-QM loans including bank statement, DSCR, asset depletion, 1099, ITIN, P&L, and foreign national programs with Shelton Mortgage Team.
Non-QM Loans
Non-QM loans are more practical than you think.
What is a Non-QM loan?
Standard documentation
Alternative documentation
Seven Non-QM programs we help you compare
How much do you need to put down on a Non-QM loan?
What credit score do you need for a Non-QM loan?
What actually gets reviewed
Non-QM loan requirements
How is income documented on Non-QM?
Purchase or refinance? We help with both.
Buying a home
Rate/term refinance
Cash-out refinance
Property types & occupancy
Non-QM guidelines & loan size
Seller contributions, gift funds, and closing costs
Who Non-QM financing may be a good fit for
When another loan program may be better
Non-QM vs. Conventional
Why work with Shelton Mortgage Team
Let’s Compare Your Options
Non-QM loan questions, answered.
Alternative documentation for borrowers whose income does not fit a W-2 box. Explore bank statement, DSCR, asset depletion, 1099, ITIN, P&L, and foreign national financing.
Eligibility, rates, and program availability vary by borrower, occupancy, property, documentation type, lender overlays, and underwriting findings. Not every option applies to every file.
A lot of what people “know” about Non-QM financing is leftover from a different decade. Subprime. No-doc. A last resort. That version still shows up in conversations — and it is incomplete. Today’s Non-QM loans are fully underwritten mortgages for borrowers whose income is real, just not W-2 shaped.
A Non-QM mortgage is a home loan that does not meet Qualified Mortgage documentation standards used by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the government programs. That is the distinction in plain English. It is still a loan with an appraisal, title work, underwriting, and a closing. The difference is how ability to repay is shown.
Non-QM does not automatically mean high risk, no income check, or a credit problem. Those are stereotypes. The product is broader than the nickname — and it is how many business owners, investors, and unique-income borrowers actually buy or refinance.
Conventional, FHA, VA, and USDA loans generally want W-2s, tax returns, paystubs, and a debt-to-income ratio that an automated system can read. When that file is clean, those programs are usually the first conversation — and often the better price.
Bank deposits, rental cash flow, asset statements, 1099s, CPA P&Ls, ITIN files, and foreign national structures. Same goal — a mortgage that fits the life you actually have — with a different set of papers.
Non-QM is a category, not a single product. These are the loan programs we walk through with borrowers whose income, occupancy, or citizenship does not fit agency guidelines.
Eligible Non-QM financing often starts around 10%–20% down for bank statement, 1099, and P&L purchases. DSCR investor loans commonly start in the mid-teens to 25%. ITIN and foreign national files often need 20%–30% or more.
The right down payment depends on program, credit, occupancy, reserves, and lender overlays. Putting more down can improve pricing and open a file that would not work at a thinner equity position. It is a strategy question, not a moral one.
These are common starting ranges, not a promise that every file funds at the low end.
Lender overlays, credit, occupancy, and reserves still decide the actual down payment. We will tell you what the file supports — not what a brochure suggests.
Many Non-QM programs look for mid-600s and up — with pricing that improves as the score rises.
Some bank statement and DSCR overlays start near 620. Stronger scores, more down payment, and larger reserves can open better pricing and higher LTVs. Foreign national files may use foreign credit or no U.S. score at all.
A score is not the whole story. Payment history, recent credit events, reserves, occupancy, and documentation type all factor in. Individual lenders overlay their own floors.
Your credit score matters, but it isn’t the whole story.
Lenders price and underwrite a person, not a three-digit headline. If you have been told you are “too unique for a mortgage,” it is worth a second look at the actual file.
Non-QM requirements are a stack of findings, not a poster on the wall. Credit, documentation, assets, the property, and occupancy all interact. What follows is how we explain that stack — without pretending every lender judges a file the same way.
Agency loans generally want tax returns and W-2s. Non-QM asks a different question: what paperwork actually reflects this borrower’s cash flow? The answer depends on the program.
Bank statement files use deposits. DSCR files use rent. Asset qualifier files use statements. 1099 and P&L files use contractor forms or a CPA’s numbers. ITIN and foreign national files add identity and source-of-funds layers. None of this is “no doc.” It is a different doc.
The goal isn’t to avoid paperwork. The goal is to document the income you actually have, in a way a lender can underwrite.
Non-QM financing is not a purchase-only product. Shelton Mortgage Team structures these loans for buying and for refinancing. A refinance should be judged against your full picture — payment, costs, prepayment structure, how long you will keep the loan — not the interest rate in isolation.
Non-QM purchase loans can serve self-employed buyers, investors, ITIN holders, and foreign nationals — when the file and the property fit the guidelines.
A Non-QM rate/term refinance replaces the current mortgage without taking substantial cash out. Typical goals: a different term, a restructured payment, or moving out of an adjustable structure.
Eligible Non-QM cash-out — including DSCR investor cash-out — lets borrowers convert equity into cash for improvements, reserves, or other eligible goals, subject to LTV and occupancy rules.
Eligible Non-QM financing can cover single-family homes, condos, PUDs, and 2–4 unit properties. Occupancy is its own decision: how you will use the property often changes down payment, reserves, pricing, and which program even applies.
Non-QM is not capped by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac conforming limits in the same way a conventional loan is. Loan size, LTV, and pricing are set by the wholesale lender and the specific program. That is why two similar files can land in different boxes.
Non-QM can be used when the amount is well under the 2026 conforming limit of $832,750 — or when it is jumbo. Documentation, not the dollar amount, is what usually puts a file in this category.
Maximum loan-to-value, reserve months, prepayment structure, and credit floors vary by lender. We compare across the wholesale network rather than forcing one overlay onto every file.
Non-QM loans can allow seller credits, lender credits, and — on some programs — gift funds, within occupancy, LTV, and overlay limits. Interested-party contributions are typically a ceiling on closing costs, not a substitute for the required down payment. Exact caps differ by lender, unlike the published Fannie Mae grid.
A Non-QM loan may be worth a serious look if any of the following sounds like you. None of this is a guarantee of approval.
Non-QM is not automatically best. Conventional, FHA, VA, and USDA are usually the stronger price when standard documentation fits. Jumbo is the tool when the only issue is loan size above the conforming limit. A first-lien HELOC can be the better refinance structure for some equity and payoff goals.
The goal isn’t to put you into a Non-QM loan. The goal is to find the financing strategy that makes the most sense for you.
This is the comparison borrowers ask for most. Neither column wins in every file. The first question is whether conventional can actually underwrite the income you have.
Neil Shelton and the Shelton Mortgage Team educate first, then compare. We have access to 160+ wholesale lenders, which means a Non-QM purchase or refinance is one option on the table — next to conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, jumbo, and other structures — not the only product we know how to spell.
You don’t need to know which loan you need before you call us. That’s our job.
We will not promise guaranteed approval, the lowest rate in America, or savings we have not measured. We will put the options in plain language and help you choose on purpose. The team can assist in 49 states.
You don’t have to figure out which mortgage program is right for you on your own. We’ll compare the available options and help you understand the numbers before you make a decision.
Neil Shelton, NMLS 1668076 | Edge Home Finance, NMLS 891464. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Information on this page is for general education and is not a commitment to lend. Approval, rates, terms, program availability, down payment options, credit evaluation, documentation methods, occupancy rules, and overlays are subject to underwriting, lender guidelines, property eligibility, and market conditions. Non-QM guidelines differ by wholesale lender and can change without notice.
Personalized mortgage guidance for buyers, sellers, and refinancers — with a team ready to help across 49 states.
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Neil Shelton, Mortgage Loan Originator with Shelton Mortgage Team