Closed in 2025 · Published October 18, 2026
- Residential
- Alternative
- Purchase
- Self-employed
- Stated-income
- Bank statements
- Purchase price
- about $1.2 million
- Mortgage
- about $980,000
- Loan-to-value
- 80%
- Income used
- 12 months of bank statements
- Rate in 2025
- 5.34%, one-year fixed
The Situation
A married couple, both registered massage therapists working as sole proprietors, bought a four-bedroom Maple Ridge house with a one-bedroom basement suite to live in, priced at about $1.2 million.
The Challenge
One had been self-employed for just over 12 months and the other for about six, and with a student loan and a car loan staying in place, the debt-service ratios came to about 45% and 51%.
The Solution
In 2025 we placed about $980,000 under an alternative lender's stated-income program, 80% of the price, on a one-year fixed term at 5.34% with a 30-year amortization. An alternative lender was the fit because it could qualify them on 12 months of bank statements instead of declared income and take the TDS to about 51%: about $140,000 and about $75,000 gross, less expenses to about $130,000 and about $65,000, with scores of 805 and 768.
The Outcome
The couple bought the house with 20% down from their savings and investments, leaving the suite unrented.