The Boca version of the self-employed problem
The typical decline here is not a contractor with messy books. It is a dentist, a physician group partner, a wealth adviser who left the wirehouse, an attorney with a two-partner firm, or the owner of a marketing agency on Federal Highway — a professional practice organized as an S-corporation, paying its owner a deliberately modest salary and taking the rest as distributions, after depreciation, a defined-benefit plan contribution and every expense the CPA could justify. The practice deposits two or three hundred thousand dollars a year into its operating account. The personal return shows a fraction of that. A bank underwriter qualifies off the return, and the answer is no — or a line too small to be worth the paperwork.
A deposit-based file starts from the other end. Twelve months of deposits into the account that actually receives the practice's revenue are the income, verified by a connection to the bank that takes about two minutes. There is no request for returns, K-1s, a P&L or a letter from the CPA, so the tax planning that made the return look thin never enters the file.
Country-club and gated communities
A large share of Boca's housing sits inside communities with mandatory club membership or a substantial homeowners' association — Boca West, Broken Sound, Woodfield, Boca Grove, Royal Palm, St. Andrews, Boca Bridges and the newer Lotus developments out west. Two things follow for a home equity line:
- Membership equity and initiation fees are not part of the home's value. The line is sized on the real estate. The club equity you bought is a separate asset.
- Association dues are a monthly obligation and are counted alongside the mortgage when the lender checks that the deposits support the payments. High-dues communities do not disqualify anyone; they simply need deposits that cover them, which a practice owner's account usually does with room to spare.
Condominiums and townhomes along A1A and downtown are eligible as well. Expect the property review to ask about the association's finances and reserves — a question about the building, not about your income.
Seasonal residents: primary or second home?
Palm Beach County has a large population of owners who are here from November to April and somewhere in the Northeast the rest of the year. The program lends on primary residences and on second homes, but the maximums differ, and which one your Boca property is depends on where you claim Florida homestead and spend the majority of the year — not on which address you prefer. If the Boca home is the second home, say so at the start; the calculator applies the correct limits and the file moves faster than one that has to be re-run.
What a Palm Beach County closing looks like
- Timeline. A clean file can fund in as little as five days, including the three-day right to cancel on a primary residence. The lien records with the Palm Beach County Clerk; you do not go anywhere.
- Valuation. Boca and the coastal cities have deep sales data, so lines up to $400,000 usually close on an automated valuation with no appraiser visit. Above $400,000 a full appraisal is ordered, which adds the appraiser's scheduling time.
- Existing liens. Many Boca owners already carry a HELOC from the years when the return looked better, or a solar loan from the last decade's push. This line goes behind either — see third lien position and solar and PACE liens.
Common questions
Do you have an office in Boca Raton?
No. Korbin Spangenthal is based in Fort Lauderdale and works Palm Beach County by phone and electronically, which is how the entire process runs anyway. West Capital Lending's headquarters is in Irvine, California.
My practice is an S-corp and I pay myself a small salary. What income do you use?
The deposits into the account that receives the practice's revenue over the last 12 months — not the W-2 salary and not the K-1. That is the whole point of the program.
My Boca home is in a club community with high dues. Is that a problem?
No. The dues are counted as a monthly obligation like any other, and the club membership equity is simply left out of the home's value. Nothing about a club community disqualifies the property.
I'm only in Boca part of the year. Can I still get the line?
Yes. If the Boca property is your second home, the program lends on it with lower maximums than a primary residence. Tell us which it is at the start and the numbers come out right the first time.