Ann Little's Answer

to "How long must I have worked for my present employer in order to get a mortgage loan?"

As far as employment term goes, the length of time required on a job all
depends on the type of loan the client chooses.  If the client chooses
to go FHA, then a two year employment history is required.  Also, there
are different requirements if the client is receiving commission income
versus a salary.  If they are on straight commission, we need at least a
two year history to view on this type of income, and the underwriter
will ask for tax returns to make sure the client is not expensing out a
good deal of their commission income.  If there are expenses noted, these
come off of the gross income figure to reduce the qualifying income we
can count.  This is also true for a self employed person.

If the client receives a salary, that is the best situation. FHA still
will require that the client have a two year work history.  On a
conventional loan, we will look at the past two year history, but if the
client is newly employed, we can count the income as long as the
employer lets us know that the client is not on a probationary period at
the job, and that the income is a salaried income and not commission
income. Gross income is counted when we qualify a client for a mortgage
loan.

Mortgage loan rules are changing daily, so make sure the guidelines have
not changed before you make an offer.  It is always best to be
pre-qualified by a Mortgage Lender before making any offers on a home
purchase.