Florida’s 1099 Income Is Lumpier Than Anywhere Else
Florida has one of the largest independent-contractor populations in the country, and an unusual amount of it is structured in ways that make a single year of income a poor guide to the next one.
Real estate commissions move with transaction volume, and Florida transaction volume swings hard. Construction and restoration income spikes after storm seasons and falls between them. Hospitality and marine trades run on tourist calendars. Even the consultants relocating here from higher-tax states often show a partial first year that understates their run rate.
That makes the 1-year versus 2-year decision the most consequential choice on a Florida 1099 file more consequential, for many borrowers here, than which lender they use. Get it wrong and you either understate a strong borrower or fail to explain a spike an underwriter will question.
The rest of the Florida picture insurance, condos, flood is real and covered below. But the income window is where Florida files are won.
The Lenders
Select Home Loans
Select Home Loans is a Florida Non-QM mortgage broker (NMLS #2384002) headquartered in Daytona Beach, writing 1099 investor loans statewide. We work across multiple wholesale investors, which on a Florida file matters for two reasons: qualifying methods vary enough to change your loan amount materially, and investor appetite for Florida condos and coastal properties varies even more.
We quote the DSCR and bank statement alternatives alongside the 1099 program so you can see which product the property and your income actually support.
Get a quote · (888) 550-3296
Other lenders worth calling — listed in no particular order:
A&D Mortgage A Non-QM-only lender headquartered in Hollywood, Florida, writing a large share of its volume in-state. Their DSCR and alternative documentation investor programs are frequently quoted side by side, which is useful when comparing both paths on the same property.
Foundation Mortgage Corporation A Florida-based lender publishing 1099 income programs requiring one or two years of 1099s plus a year-to-date earnings letter, with no tax returns.
Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions One of the largest dedicated Non-QM investors nationally, with a purpose-built 1099 income program. Reached through a broker.
Griffin Funding — Publishes qualifying on 90 to 100 percent of gross 1099 income, 620 minimum credit, and loan amounts to $4 million.
Carrington Mortgage Services Non-QM lender with alternative documentation investor programs and generally flexible guidelines.
NASB (North American Savings Bank) One of the longest-running alternative documentation programs in the country, with a 1099-NEC based option.
Verify current licensure and program availability before relying on any listing. See the disclaimer at the end of this page.
Choosing Your Income Window
Use the 1-year program when your most recent year is your best, you recently relocated to Florida and your prior-state income is not representative, or your client mix changed materially in a way that improved your run rate.
Use the 2-year program when your income is commission-based and one year contained an unusual closing, when your business is tourism- or season-dependent, or when a storm disrupted or inflated a single period.
The storm-cycle problem cuts both directions. A restaurant or marina that lost six weeks to a hurricane looks weaker on a 12-month pull that includes it. A roofing contractor or restoration firm working the aftermath shows a spike and underwriters frequently discount unusually high post-event income as non-recurring unless it is explained.
Either way, put it in writing before the file goes in. A short letter explaining the cycle costs you nothing and prevents a condition that costs you a week.
Separately: the two-year self-employment history requirement and the two-year income lookback are different things and get conflated constantly. Ask about both.
How Qualifying Works
A 1099 loan qualifies you on income documented on your 1099 forms rather than the net profit shown after deductions. Appraisal, assets, credit, reserves, and ability-to-repay all work normally.
Programs split into two camps. Some apply 90 percent or more of gross 1099 income with no expense deduction. Others apply an expense factor of 10 to 25 percent first.
On $180,000 of annual 1099 income:
| Method | Qualifying income |
| 90% of gross | $162,000/yr — $13,500/mo |
| Gross less 20% expense factor | $144,000/yr — $12,000/mo |
| Net profit from your tax return | frequently under $80,000 |
For a Florida real estate agent whose commissions arrive cleanly on 1099s and whose overhead is modest, a gross-receipts program will generally produce more qualifying income than a bank statement program applying a standard expense factor to deposits. For a contractor carrying heavy material costs, it is often the only product that reflects what they actually earn.
Florida’s 1099 Population
Real estate agents and brokers the state’s largest 1099 group, with income that varies with transaction volume and a strong incentive to write off aggressively.
Construction and restoration trades, with demand and income both tied to storm cycles.
Marine trades along both coasts captains, mechanics, brokers, and service operators.
Hospitality and event contracting in Orlando and South Florida.
Healthcare and travel-nursing contracts, a large and growing category.
Remote consultants relocating from higher-tax states, often with strong income and a short Florida history.
Insurance, Flood, and Condos
Insurance is the binding constraint on Florida investment property. Not price insurance. Premiums enter your DTI calculation directly, and a landlord policy prices above what an owner-occupied quote suggests. Roof age drives everything: a roof past roughly 15 years is frequently either uninsurable at reasonable cost or a condition of closing.
Get a real binder on the specific property before you finalize an offer price. National estimates understate Florida costs consistently.
Flood. Much of Florida’s investment inventory sits in Special Flood Hazard Areas. Budget $1,500 to $5,000 or more annually. Private flood carriers often beat NFIP on elevated properties, but not every lender accepts private policies confirm before you shop.
Condos remain the hardest asset class in the state. Post-Surfside inspection and reserve requirements have pushed a meaningful share of associations outside standard warrantability, and special assessments have hit coastal markets hard. On a 1099 condo file you are asking an investor to accept alternative income documentation and a potentially non-warrantable project. Non-warrantable programs exist and price roughly 0.5 to 1.0 point above standard. Pull the association’s budget, reserve study, and milestone inspection status in the first week.
Short-term rental ordinances vary by county and municipality some restrict rentals under 30 days, others grandfather specific zones. This affects returns rather than qualification, but verify for the specific address.
Judicial foreclosure. Florida forecloses through the courts, which lengthens timelines and makes some investors more conservative on LTV than in neighboring non-judicial states like Georgia and Alabama.
Investment Property Terms
- Down payment: 20–25 percent typical, better pricing at 25 percent and above
- Credit: 620 floor at most investors; real improvements at 680, 700, 740
- Reserves: 6–12 months PITIA, often with additional reserves per financed property already owned — the constraint that most often kills a fourth or fifth purchase
- Prepayment penalties: common on investment property, typically 1–3 years, often buyable at a quarter to a half point
1099 or DSCR?
At current Florida prices combined with current insurance costs, a great many South Florida acquisitions come in below a 1.0 DSCR. A property can be a perfectly sound long-term hold and still miss the ratio, purely because the insurance line is so large.
Use DSCR where rent genuinely covers the payment after Florida insurance and taxes more achievable in parts of Central and North Florida than in the southeast coastal markets.
Use a 1099 loan where it does not, where the property has no rental history, where STR ordinance status makes projected rent unreliable, or where your documented income unlocks better pricing at lower leverage.
The common Florida portfolio structure is DSCR on the cash-flowing rentals and a 1099 loan on the acquisition that does not yet pencil.
Questions to Ask
- Should this be a 1-year or 2-year file given how my income cycles? (The most important Florida question.)
- Do you qualify on gross 1099 income, or apply an expense factor?
- Have you closed a Non-QM investment loan in a Florida condo in the last six months?
- Do you accept private flood policies?
- Can you quote DSCR on the same property?
- What is the prepayment penalty, and what does removing it cost?
Disclaimer
The lenders described on this page are listed in no particular order. Select Home Loans appears first because we publish this page and originate these loans; we have a commercial interest in this category. No lender listed has paid for placement.
This page reflects our opinion based on publicly available information at the time of writing. It is general information, not a recommendation, an endorsement, or an offer of credit. Lender programs, guidelines, licensure, pricing, and availability change frequently and without notice, and nothing here guarantees that any lender is currently licensed in Florida, currently offers the program described, or will approve your file.
Insurance availability and pricing, condo association status, and local short-term rental ordinances vary by property and change over time; verify them independently. Consult a licensed mortgage professional — and where appropriate a tax advisor, attorney, or financial advisor before making any borrowing decision. Verify any lender’s licensure through NMLS Consumer Access at nmlsconsumeraccess.org.
Select Home Loans, NMLS #2384002. Equal Housing Opportunity.
