After originating mortgages for over 40 years, one would think that they have seen everything and know all the answers. But I am always getting different questions or scenarios, which makes my work so interesting. This week, we had a client who is a traveling physical therapist. He gets paid a base salary and then has a significant per diem for housing and meals. Although this arrangement works well for him because the per diem is not taxed, it does not work as well for mortgage qualifying.

Per Diem Payments

Per diem payments such as reimbursements for travel, lodging, meals, and work-related supplies are not considered qualifying income for mortgages. The exception to this is a car allowance. If you have received a car allowance for at least two years, then we can add that to your qualifying income. So, for this client, we could only use his base pay, and because it is variable, we must average it over the last year. Fortunately, this one had a happy ending, and he was still able to qualify for a mortgage!

Get in Touch

I want to remind my clients that we are here for you. If you are experiencing financial difficulty because of a job loss, please contact me so that I can connect you with helpful resources.