What Kind of Job History Is Required to Get a Mortgage?

Hi Eleanor,

First, there really are no hard-and-fast rules about employment. The two-year rule you are hearing about is a rule of thumb, but you are buying a house, not a thumb. For example, as a loan officer, I got recent college grads with almost no work experience approved for FHA loans at good rates. In these cases, they had signed three-year employment contracts with good firms and that was enough.

You can enhance your chance of approval by connecting the jobs and showing how each one enhanced your income or your future prospects. Say, for example, you worked part time as a bank teller for six months. Then, you took a chance on an internship with a financial firm, which allowed you to learn about investments. Finally, you got your current job as an assistant to a certified financial planner. Makes perfect sense and you are clearly headed in the right place.

Now, if your party-girl roomie's experience was more like starting with an internship, getting bored and going to work as a cocktail waitress, then coming up with a construction job somewhere, she seems a riskier candidate for a home loan than you. Speak to a professional loan agent you feel comfortable with. He or she can help you put the best spin on your employment history and improve your chances of getting your first mortgage.

Good luck, and thanks for writing,

Gina