Bank statement loan guidelines, current and centrally updated.
Every figure in these cards renders from Lendmire’s centralized alternative-documentation standards source, so when program guidance moves, this page moves with it. Eligibility itself is always decided on the specific borrower, property, and wholesale lender.
Max LTV on a primary
A primary-residence purchase can reach 90% loan-to-value on bank-statement documentation: 10% down at minimum, and not one tax return in the file.
Months of statements
A conventional file wants tax returns, W-2s, and pay stubs; here, twelve months of personal or business bank statements do that job instead.
Maximum loan amount
The program spans $125,000 to $3.5 million in loan amount, covering everything from a starter home to a high-value primary residence.
Ways to document income
Choose the evidence that matches how you get paid: bank statements, 1099s, a CPA-prepared profit and loss, asset depletion, or one-year documentation.
Standard-program figures for owner-occupied financing · rendered from the centralized guideline source, subject to change without notice · second homes and investment property carry their own leverage tiers.
At St. Simons’ median owner-occupied value of $484,100 (ACS 2019–2023), the program’s top loan-to-value tier comfortably covers the typical purchase — ten percent down at the median works out to roughly $48,410, with the financed amount sitting well inside the program’s range.
The bank statement loan, explained — starting with the tax-return problem.
The better St. Simons’ accountants do their job, the thinner a profitable business can look on its return. Conventional underwriting qualifies on net income after every deduction has landed; this program reads the deposits instead.
Deposits replace the tax return
Qualifying income is derived from twelve months of deposits into your personal or business accounts, not from the adjusted gross income on a return. The money the business actually collected is what counts.
An expense factor stands in for write-offs
Business-account deposits are reduced by an expense factor reflecting what it costs to run your type of business — 50% for most, 30% for small service firms, 20% for sole owner-operators. Personal-account deposits are simply divided by twelve.
Your CPA can beat the standard factor
A ratio built on your actual books can replace the standard tier: an independent CPA, enrolled agent, tax attorney, or licensed preparer documents it, with a floor of 10%. It is frequently the difference between qualifying tiers.
Underwriting still applies
Nothing about this is a no-documentation loan. Credit, reserves, appraisal, title, insurance, business existence, and account activity all get reviewed. The only change is which documents establish your income, not whether verification happens.
Personal accounts use total eligible deposits divided by twelve. Business accounts apply the expense factor for your industry first, or a ratio prepared by your own CPA. The calculator below runs the math for the bank statement, 1099, and asset-depletion paths; the lender determines the final figure from the actual statements.
Self-employed St. Simons, by the numbers.
St. Simons’ workforce runs 6,825 employed civilians, and 1,558 of them — 22.8% — work for themselves: 834 incorporated, 724 unincorporated (ACS 2019–2023).
Citywide figures provide general market context, not an underwriting decision. The statements that matter are your own, and the loan amount turns on credit, reserves, the property, and the documentation path selected.
Data source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year (2023), class-of-worker series, St. Simons city.
How St. Simons borrowers document income — no tax return required.
The bank statement loans that self-employed borrowers close in St. Simons, Georgia start with a path decision: how your business banks, how you are paid, and what your accountant can prepare. Five documentation types on the snapshot, six ways the math runs below — bank statements three ways (personal, business, and a CPA-provided ratio), 1099s, a CPA profit and loss, and asset depletion. Most files fit one of these; some combine them.
Count the split and St. Simons reads incorporated — 834 entity owners, 724 sole proprietors (ACS 2019–2023) — so the ordering starts with business statements: entity accounts, ownership documentation, and the expense factors made for them.
Business bank statements
Most files run here: business deposits net of the industry expense factor. The standard tier is 50%; small service firms with no more than five employees take 30%; sole owner-operators with no employees, cost of goods, or leased office space take 20%. Ownership of at least 25% is required.
Personal bank statements
Twelve months of personal statements: total eligible deposits divided by twelve, with no expense factor applied. Requires at least 20% ownership of the business generating the deposits — often the cleanest path for owners who pay themselves into a personal account.
CPA-provided expense ratio
An independent CPA, enrolled agent, tax attorney, or CTEC preparer can provide an expense ratio specific to your business, floored at 10%. Certain industries — real-estate investing, construction, food service, retail — take no less than the standard factor.
1099 only
Purely commission earners can skip the statements: 90% of gross 1099 earnings, over one or two years, is the qualifying income. The earnings must be 100% commission from one company or several, and anyone carrying real office, equipment, or vehicle costs usually fares better on bank statements.
CPA profit & loss
Your accountant’s 12- or 24-month profit and loss can carry the file on a primary residence at a 680 minimum score, with no bank statements required. Owner-occupied is the standard lane; other occupancies need an exception.
Asset depletion
Qualified liquid assets convert to monthly income by dividing them across 60 months — cash counts in full, securities at 80%, retirement accounts at 70%. Reserves are not separately required on this path, and no employment is needed.
One program, six doors in. Lendmire’s review runs your St. Simons file against the paths across wholesale lenders to find the one that produces the strongest qualifying income.
How the program reads this market.
Three composite scenarios drawn from the business types that anchor St. Simons’ self-employed economy — each mapped to the documentation path that fits it.
Clean books, lean overhead
Few clients, thin overhead, healthy collections: the St. Simons consultant’s return understates all of it, while the statements state it plainly — and lean service work frequently qualifies at a stronger expense tier than the standard factor.
The path: service-tier business statements
Independent practice, prior employment counts
In St. Simons, a practitioner who left a system job to open a practice pairs the new entity’s deposits with prior same-line employment to meet the history standard — the classic first-mortgage file for a young practice.
Path fit: business statements with same-line history
Inventory business, readable revenue
A St. Simons shop’s statements read like a ledger — processor settlements, wholesale accounts, the seasonal peak — and the expense-factor structure was designed for exactly this kind of inventory business.
The path: standard-factor business statements
Four transactions this program was built to solve.
Bank statement loans in St. Simons are not a niche workaround — they are the standard path for self-employed borrowers across every common transaction type.
Buy a primary residence
An owner-occupied purchase reaches 90% loan-to-value: 10% down at minimum, no tax returns in the file. By a wide margin, this is the program’s most common use.
Rate-and-term refinance
Existing financing gets replaced without conventional income documentation — a fit for borrowers who bought before going self-employed, or whose last two returns have fallen behind the business.
Cash-out refinance
Convert home equity into business or personal capital. Cash in hand is unlimited at or below 70% loan-to-value, with a $1,000,000 cap above that threshold.
Second homes and investment property
The same documentation paths extend to second homes and investment properties at their own leverage tiers, so a self-employed borrower is not limited to a primary residence.
What do your deposits qualify as? Find out before applying.
Select a documentation path, then enter the figure it works from. The calculator runs the current expense factors, the 1099 factor, and the asset-depletion divisor just as the program does, drawing them from Lendmire’s centralized guideline source. Until a lender reviews the actual statements, every figure is an estimate.
St. Simons qualifying income calculator
What you see first is an example St. Simons small business. Put your own figures in its place.
Unless your business qualifies for a lower tier or your CPA provides an industry-specific ratio, business bank statements take a 50% expense factor.
The illustration assumes $576,000 in twelve-month deposits, a $48,000 monthly average for an example St. Simons small business, at 100% ownership on the standard business-statement path. The factors, reserve requirements, and leverage ceilings shown reflect current program guidance and update from Lendmire’s centralized guideline source on the live page.
Illustrative estimate only — not a credit decision, pre-approval, or commitment to lend. Housing-budget figures show the total monthly obligation the stated debt-to-income ratio would allow before other debts, taxes, and insurance are considered. Actual qualifying income, program eligibility, and loan amount depend on the statements themselves and full underwriting by the selected wholesale lender.
Same borrower, two very different income calculations.
Both lenders see the same earnings. Only one is allowed to use the bigger number.
Net profit or gross deposits.
Qualifies on the net income reported after business deductions, typically averaged across two years of returns. Depreciation, vehicle expenses, home-office deductions, and equipment write-offs all reduce the figure the lender may use.
The qualifying figure is deposits net of a standardized expense factor. For a profitable St. Simons business with aggressive but legitimate write-offs, that path frequently produces materially higher qualifying income than the tax return would.
Pricing on alternative documentation sits above comparable conventional financing; the different documentation standard is why. The premium only makes sense when your returns understate the business, which is exactly the situation this program was built for.
When your last two returns describe the business accurately and comfortably support the payment, conventional financing usually wins on economics. When deductions have compressed your reportable income, this program exists precisely for that gap. Lendmire arranges both.
What to prepare for a bank statement file.
Exact documentation varies by lender and path, but these categories give a self-employed borrower in St. Simons a practical starting point.
A general preparation guide, not a universal checklist: based on the business, borrower, property, and underwriting findings, the selected lender may request additional information.
The details that move your qualifying income.
Before relying on a target loan amount, look at account structure, deposit activity, business history, and property characteristics; each affects what a bank statement file will support.
Use these checks to keep the file clean and financeable.
Wholesale lenders treat the details differently, so no universal outcome is promised here, just the main issues self-employed borrowers in St. Simons should clear first.
- Separate the accounts. Deposits that mix business and personal funds complicate the calculation and can reduce qualifying income.
- Watch the account activity. More than ten insufficient-funds items across twelve months is disqualifying under the current program.
- Document the business. Plan on two years of business existence; anything shorter leans on prior same-line employment.
Which Accounts, Ownership, and Partners
Ownership thresholds run 25% for business-account deposits and 20% for personal-account deposits. In a shared business, qualifying income is generally prorated to your ownership percentage, and partners must provide a letter permitting your use of the business funds. The statements themselves must be consecutive, complete, and dated within 45 days of application.
Large Deposits and Transfers
Any deposit exceeding half your monthly average draws a letter of explanation and supporting evidence that it is business revenue. Transfers between your own accounts, loan proceeds, and one-time windfalls are generally excluded from the income calculation rather than counted twice.
Business History and Ownership Changes
Business existence runs on a two-year standard: under two years works with two years of prior same-line employment, and under one year does not qualify. Ownership changes within the past twelve months generally season before the deposits can be relied upon.
Listing History and Time on Title
A property listed for sale at application is not eligible, and one listed within the past six months of the note date is generally out. On a cash-out refinance at least one borrower must have held title for six months, waived where the property came by inheritance, gift, court award, or divorce.
Prepayment Terms Under the Program
Consumer loans in Georgia — owner-occupied and second homes — close with no prepayment penalty under this program. On investment property, a one-to-five-year prepayment structure with an available buy-out may apply; it is a wholesale-lender term, and the review treats it as one more lever to compare.
From statements to closing table.
Removing the hardest part of a mortgage file — returns, schedules, K-1s — makes this path shorter than most self-employed borrowers expect.
Run the scenario
Open with the basics: property, business type, twelve-month deposit total, credit range, timeline. Prequalification is a conversation, not a document request.
Pick the path
Across multiple wholesale lenders, Lendmire compares the documentation paths to find the one producing the strongest qualifying income for your file.
Submit the statements
Underwriting begins when twelve consecutive months of statements, business evidence, and standard property documentation reach the selected lender.
Close
Appraisal, title, and coverage requirements wrap up alongside underwriting; from there the file moves to a standard Georgia closing.
Choosing among bank statement lenders in St. Simons.
Treat bank statement lenders as different products, because they are. Expense factors, ownership thresholds, deposit treatment, and reserve requirements vary between wholesale programs, and where a St. Simons file lands materially changes the qualifying income it produces.
The lender you land with is the product
Path plus lender equals the number: the same borrower qualifies for materially different amounts depending on both. Getting that choice right is the work.
Self-employed specialization
Three questions drive the review: how does the business bank, what can the accountant support, and which expense factor does the industry actually qualify for?
An honest comparison
You get a straight answer on whether a bank statement loan is the right call, because Lendmire also arranges conventional financing and is not pitching the only product on the shelf.
Trusted by buyers & business owners alike.
Bank statement loan FAQs for St. Simons
The qualification, documentation, and eligibility questions St. Simons, Georgia borrowers raise most often about bank statement loans are answered here. Final program terms remain scenario-specific.
What is a bank statement loan in St. Simons?
Bank statement loans in St. Simons qualify you on twelve months of bank deposits rather than tax returns, wage forms, or pay stubs. Programs from select lenders in Lendmire’s wholesale network cover primary residences, second homes, and investment properties, with the top loan-to-value tier reserved for owner-occupied purchases and other occupancies running to their own tiers.
Can I get a mortgage without tax returns if I’m self-employed in St. Simons?
Yes. That gap is precisely what this program exists for: instead of the net income deductions leave behind, qualifying income comes from your deposits — personal statements divided by twelve, or business statements net of your industry’s expense factor.
How is my qualifying income calculated from bank statements?
Two formulas cover it. Personal accounts: eligible deposits over twelve months, divided by twelve, no factor. Business accounts: the expense factor for your business type — or your own CPA’s documented ratio — applied first, then divided by twelve. Run your figures through the calculator on this page.
Will overdrafts or insufficient-funds items disqualify me?
Not automatically, and the two are counted differently. An overdraft covered by linked funds, or one leaving no negative end-of-day balance, is generally not counted as an insufficient-funds item. True NSF items are capped across the twelve-month period — if your history is near that threshold, banking cleaner months before applying is often the difference.
Do I need two years of business history?
Two years of business existence is the yardstick. One to two years passes with two years of prior same-line employment behind it; under one year does not qualify. And if ownership changed within the past twelve months, plan on seasoning before the deposits count.
My business has partners — whose statements do we use?
Yours — the file documents your ownership percentage, and qualifying income generally prorates to it. Partners supply a letter permitting use of the business accounts, and the other owners’ shares stay out of your calculation.
I’m an independent consultant — do retainer and project payments count the same?
The twelve-month total doesn’t care how clients pay: retainers, project fees, and recurring payments all count identically. Lean-overhead consulting also frequently clears a stronger expense tier than the standard factor — verified against how the practice really operates.
I’m an independent practitioner who left a hospital system last year — do I qualify?
You may. Prior same-line employment can satisfy the two-year business standard, and a practitioner leaving a system job is the textbook case. The file pairs the new practice’s deposits with the employment history behind them.
How much do I need to put down in St. Simons?
Ten percent down is the floor on a primary-residence purchase at the top loan-to-value tier, and St. Simons’ typical prices sit comfortably within the program’s loan range. The strongest leverage requires the strongest credit; second homes and investment properties max out lower.
My shop’s revenue is seasonal — how do lenders read the slow months?
Averaged, not judged month by month: the calculation runs the full twelve months, so a strong season carries the slow one. What underwriting wants is a pattern it can explain and an account that stays clean through the trough — no cluster of NSF items in the off-season.
Your statements tell the real story. Let’s use them.
All it takes to start: your business type, your twelve-month deposit total, and the St. Simons property you have in mind. A soft credit inquiry that doesn’t affect your score handles prequalification — and if conventional financing serves you better, we’ll tell you that too.
This guide covers St. Simons — for the statewide rules, guidelines, and scenarios, see Bank Statement Loans in Georgia, part of Lendmire’s bank statement loan program.
Nearby markets in Georgia: Brunswick · Jekyll Island · Hinesville · Savannah · Tybee Island · Valdosta · Warner Robins · Albany
Other loan programs in St. Simons: DSCR Loans in St. Simons, GA · Super Jumbo DSCR Loans in St. Simons, GA · Short-Term Rental Loans in St. Simons, GA · Investment Property Cash-Out Refinance in St. Simons, GA · Hard Money Loans in St. Simons, GA · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans in St. Simons, GA · Bank Statement HELOC in St. Simons, GA · Investment Property HELOC in St. Simons, GA