Self-Employed HELOC in Fort Lauderdale and Broward County

The marine economy and its bank statements

Fort Lauderdale calls itself the yachting capital of the world, and the self-employment that comes with it is everywhere: captains and crew paid per charter or per delivery, yacht brokers on commission, surveyors, marine electricians, canvas and detailing shops, riggers, dive operators, and the dozens of small companies that exist because of the boat show every fall. Almost none of it produces a W-2. Most of it produces a Schedule C or an S-corp return that has been written to show the minimum, and a deposit pattern that swings with the season — heavy from the show through spring, light in the summer heat.

A two-year tax-return average punishes that pattern twice: once for the write-offs, and again for flattening a seasonal business into a thin monthly number. Twelve consecutive months of deposits show the season in context. The strong months count, the slow months are visible for what they are, and nothing is averaged against a prior year.

Waterfront property, reviewed honestly

A large fraction of the equity in Broward sits on the water — Las Olas Isles, Rio Vista, the Harbor Beach and Coral Ridge canals, Lighthouse Point, the Hollywood Lakes. The income side of the file does not change for a waterfront home, but the property side does:

• Flood zone and windstorm coverage are confirmed as part of the property review. Existing, in-force policies are what is needed; the lender is not underwriting the seawall.
• Docks, lifts and seawalls are part of the real estate and are reflected in the value, but a line sized on a home with a $1.5 million valuation is capped by the program maximum of $750,000 regardless of what the dock adds.
• Automated valuations are strong east of I-95 in the established neighborhoods, so lines up to $400,000 usually close without an appraiser. Unusual waterfront properties, and any line above $400,000, get a full appraisal.

West Broward: the trades, real estate and the practice owners

Weston, Plantation, Davie, Cooper City, Coral Springs and Parkland hold a different self-employed population: general contractors and roofers who rebuilt half the county after the last two hurricane seasons, pool and landscape companies, real estate agents and brokers who earn a year's income in a handful of closings, and medical and dental practices along University Drive. Common to all of them is an operating account that receives far more than the owner's return admits, and a bank that qualifies off the return. This program reads the account.

What is different because the originator is local

• A phone call, not a portal ticket. The number on this page rings a person in Fort Lauderdale. Questions about a specific deposit, a second lien or a condo association get answered the same day.
• Market context in the file. A charter captain's March and a real estate agent's August are read by someone who expects them.
• Existing liens are common here and handled. Many Broward owners already carry a HELOC or a solar loan from the last decade. This line goes behind either — see two HELOCs on one property.

Common questions